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anika

@anikach89

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no funny business 🍌

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west side best side 🐺🎓

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thank you, speech and debate

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nothing short of mythical.

I honestly can’t even begin to express my gratitude to have earned the honor of 7th in Duo at the 2026 National Speech and Debate tournament. This is particularly special to me because it is the best my school has ever done in Duo at Nationals! The journey that this story has taken, from blocking it in a classroom 30 minutes before school the week of our first tournament and memorizing an intro 3 minutes before prelims to standing on the stage of the Altria Theatre, I have enjoyed every second of creating activism through performance.

I also would have never thought I would be taking duo to nationals. I loved watching the event, but could never find anyone to do it with competitively until Anika stopped me as I was leaving class one day and asked to do duo. And when we first read through Hillary…let me tell you I was never planning on even performing it to begin with. It seemed to ambitious to put into 10 minutes. But this story was not about greek goddesses or politicians, it was also for girls just like me— a girl told by a former director that because I had such a strong presence in acting, I would never be able to play the "pretty girl," as if embracing strength made me lose the ability to be beautiful. This script taught me and so many other people that feminine does not mean weak, and we are allowed to take up spaces larger than the boxes that society may place us in. I know I may not be the pretty girl to some, but I think I can say i’m pretty fucking good at Speech and Debate.

7 years after my first Speech and Debate Tournament, I am 7th place in the country. I would watch old Duo final rounds on my iPad past my 9pm bedtime (sorry mom) and I would pretend to be on the national stage accepting my big trophy. I wish I could go back and tell my 6th grade self she’s living a dream she never realized was possible (6th grade chopped me here for reference…)

So thank you @speechanddebate @txfa_ for the past 3 years in high school competition. Thank you to my coaches, friends, competitors, but most importantly thank you to Anika. I couldn’t have done this without you!

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sad to graduate but so fricking relieved that grad week is over

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can’t drive but i still made it out of p-town

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@fergie on the last slide

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repped blue at green 🗣️

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last jenika best jenika 🤍

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@mayorwu

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thank you debate for these amazing people 🤍

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i wanted to see the world in color ⭐️

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