February a busy, excruciating month at River Valley High

February proved to be an excruciating month for most seniors at River Valley High School. January was spent filling out college applications, and even though February may have been meant as the month to relax, it proved to be the complete opposite. After the applications were completed, the month, even with only 28 days seemed to stretch and go on forever.

On a more positive note, February was especially bright, even with the cloud-darkened skies, for one team at RVHS.

That team is speech and debate, an academic team that is fairly new at our campus. Over the years, the team has seen many winners and many great debaters. This year, due to its publicist's and coach's efforts, the team has become known to more students as well as the members of the community. Because of this, many new members have joined it.

When asked about her feelings toward being on the team, new member Alejandra Cervantes showed her enthusiasm by saying, "Speech and debate is the best club — no, team — I have ever joined in my life."

February was a great month for the speech section of speech and debate team. At a speech tournament that occurred prior to Valentine's Day, several members of the team competed and earned honors.

Armaan Bhattal, a senior, and his partner, Steve Kim, earned first place in the Duo category. Armaan also competed and won first place in the Original Prose category. Another pair, composed of Mia Smith and Alejandra Cervantes, won third place in the Duo category. Furthermore, Allison Tinajero placed second in the Dramatic category.

The members also performed magnificently at the speech state qualifiers, which were held Friday and Saturday in Sacramento. Out of the 14 teams that competed in the Duo portion, Armaan and Steve earned second place. Mia and Alejandra competed in the same category and earned ninth position.

Armaan also placed third out of 24 who competed in the Original Poetry and Prose category. Because of their brilliant performance at the state qualifiers, Armaan and Steve will compete at the state tournament, which will take place in San Diego.

As for the debate section of the team, they will compete in March at the state qualifiers, and then, hopefully, advance to the state tournament. As the speech members practice their performances, the debaters will have the chance to shine at their upcoming tournament.

Just like the team's members have something to look forward to in the new month, most seniors also look forward to hearing from the universities and colleges to which they have applied.

Sukhpreet Kaur is a senior at River Valley High School. Her column appears every six weeks in Education.