“That which does not kill us makes us stronger.”
These words from Friedrich Nietzsche -- German philosopher, philologist, poet and composer – came to mind as we got word from our daughter Arizza that she did not win as champion of the English Speaking Union (ESU) international public speaking competition.
Arizza said that although one of the judges – an executive of the HSBC executive in London – chose her “as No. 1 speaker in the eliminations” because her speech “was fit more for a world audience than just a competition,” others chose to dwell on less controversial “informative” issues.
The Philippine bet to the ESU contest, Arizza did a “persuasive type” of speech to call on people of the world to confront the problem of bigotry, intolerance and strife among dominant religions of the world which through the years killed and displaced more people than any natural or man-made calamities or world sickness ever did.
She based it on the Philippine context where the problem of rebellion and Islamic terrorism has kept this country poor as many of its resources have been wasted through battles and wars through decades now. This peace instability also kept investors away, thus reducing the Philippines from being No. 2 only to Japan in the 1950s to being a bottom-dweller.
Apparently, this topic was too dead serious for most of the judges – most of whom are debate coaches – who preferred “informative” and argumentative speeches fit more for classrooms than international speaking competitions.
I told her that it was not her fault that the judges would rather dwell on informative and intellectual issues with no real significance or meaning to the problems in the world, rather than using a very important world speech contest to train young leaders to confront and tackle world problems head-on through speeches.
I remember saying this to Arizz: “You are still a winner in our eyes, anak – as the other 62 world delegates who did not win the contest … Besides, you’re really a doer, not a talker as many of your competitors there who have been trained endlessly to excel in oratory, debate and public speaking.”
It’s true, while most of her fellow delegates are majoring in political, educational, English and other courses where speeches and debates have become as natural to them as the air they breath, Arizza has been trained more on numbers and scientific formulas. Arizza stands as a square peg in a round hole in the contest because she’s an industrial engineering major. In high school, she had more numbers as a scholar of the Philippine Science High School (Pisay).
She never got intense academic training in public speaking and debate either in Pisay or at the University of the Philippines, where she is in her 3rd year of schooling. She did try to get into a public speaking class in UP this summer, but then it did not materialize for lack of time.
All the training she got was from experience as head of the Kristiyano-Islam Peace Library, for which she gets invited to give speeches about its library and scholarship programs in conflict areas in Mindanao. Well, I was the first one to train her in public speaking but it happened when she was still nine years old.
I told her that even if she did not win, she had shown her competitors that Filipinos are so smart that even those good in numbers are equally good in English and public speaking.
I also texted Arizz thus: “That contest is not the be-all and by-all of that event. It is not the end, but the beginning of a journey. You will emerge from this experience stronger and better. Just enjoy London and the connections you have made with future leaders from around the world.”
Back to Nietzsche, I truly believe that this event will make Arizz better as it is just one more stepping stone to her growth as a servant leader. She may not have gotten the coveted world title this time, but this experience will be a defining experience that will propel her to do more to help our poor country and people.
Thank you all for the support to Arizza and for praying for her success and welfare.
These words from Friedrich Nietzsche -- German philosopher, philologist, poet and composer – came to mind as we got word from our daughter Arizza that she did not win as champion of the English Speaking Union (ESU) international public speaking competition.
Arizza said that although one of the judges – an executive of the HSBC executive in London – chose her “as No. 1 speaker in the eliminations” because her speech “was fit more for a world audience than just a competition,” others chose to dwell on less controversial “informative” issues.
The Philippine bet to the ESU contest, Arizza did a “persuasive type” of speech to call on people of the world to confront the problem of bigotry, intolerance and strife among dominant religions of the world which through the years killed and displaced more people than any natural or man-made calamities or world sickness ever did.
She based it on the Philippine context where the problem of rebellion and Islamic terrorism has kept this country poor as many of its resources have been wasted through battles and wars through decades now. This peace instability also kept investors away, thus reducing the Philippines from being No. 2 only to Japan in the 1950s to being a bottom-dweller.
Apparently, this topic was too dead serious for most of the judges – most of whom are debate coaches – who preferred “informative” and argumentative speeches fit more for classrooms than international speaking competitions.
I told her that it was not her fault that the judges would rather dwell on informative and intellectual issues with no real significance or meaning to the problems in the world, rather than using a very important world speech contest to train young leaders to confront and tackle world problems head-on through speeches.
I remember saying this to Arizz: “You are still a winner in our eyes, anak – as the other 62 world delegates who did not win the contest … Besides, you’re really a doer, not a talker as many of your competitors there who have been trained endlessly to excel in oratory, debate and public speaking.”
It’s true, while most of her fellow delegates are majoring in political, educational, English and other courses where speeches and debates have become as natural to them as the air they breath, Arizza has been trained more on numbers and scientific formulas. Arizza stands as a square peg in a round hole in the contest because she’s an industrial engineering major. In high school, she had more numbers as a scholar of the Philippine Science High School (Pisay).
She never got intense academic training in public speaking and debate either in Pisay or at the University of the Philippines, where she is in her 3rd year of schooling. She did try to get into a public speaking class in UP this summer, but then it did not materialize for lack of time.
All the training she got was from experience as head of the Kristiyano-Islam Peace Library, for which she gets invited to give speeches about its library and scholarship programs in conflict areas in Mindanao. Well, I was the first one to train her in public speaking but it happened when she was still nine years old.
I told her that even if she did not win, she had shown her competitors that Filipinos are so smart that even those good in numbers are equally good in English and public speaking.
I also texted Arizz thus: “That contest is not the be-all and by-all of that event. It is not the end, but the beginning of a journey. You will emerge from this experience stronger and better. Just enjoy London and the connections you have made with future leaders from around the world.”
Back to Nietzsche, I truly believe that this event will make Arizz better as it is just one more stepping stone to her growth as a servant leader. She may not have gotten the coveted world title this time, but this experience will be a defining experience that will propel her to do more to help our poor country and people.
Thank you all for the support to Arizza and for praying for her success and welfare.
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