On June 15-20, Bishop Gorman students Bilal Qazi ‘25, Anna Kim ‘26, and Milan Prete ‘27 will be competing at the 2025 National Speech & Debate Tournament: Greater Des Moines National Tournament. They will be competing against 6,700 students and 1,500 schools to be one of 42 champions. The week-long event has been going on since 1925 making this tournament the 100th of its kind.
This is the second time that Prete and Kim have competed. Prete is now competing in the “World Schools alongside my CCSD teammates” and Kim is attending Nationals for Humorous Interpretation.
They say the third time’s the charm and Qazi is experiencing it. This is his third attempt at competing for Nationals. “Two years ago I missed the mark by a couple spots and last year I missed the mark by one point, so this year I am really being able to show out and I’m giving it my all this year,” said Qazi.
For the five day long tournament these students need more than preparation, they need luck. Prete described her “speech and debate preparation depends on time and opportunity, so basically luck.”Hours upon hours of research, studying alone and in teams, mock debates, rebuttals, and rehearsal start usually a month in advance when the debate questions are released.
However, that is not the only preparation these students do- they also need to perfect their public speaking skills Speaking in front of hundreds of people is scary for just about anyone. Prete has conquered her fear of public speaking by starting her own project freshman year called “Acting Through Law”. Here, Prete publishes her interviews and articles about law or entertainment professionals on YouTube and Instagram.
Qazi says that the biggest benefit is being able to compete with the top students in the country going to the top schools and top programs.
Speech and Debate has brought these students countless opportunities to enhance their social skills and learning that they will hold with them for the rest of their lives. “Try everything. Go to meetings, experiment, with every event even the ones that scare you,” said Kim.
