La Cañada High School student Cameron Hong is at it again. The speech and debate student, after competing in the World Schools Debate category of the National Speech and Debate Tournament and broke records, now sees herself competing again, but on a much larger scale.
Hong is now the first LCHS student to be a part of the USA Debate team under the National Speech & Debate Association with 11 other students representing the United States and competing around the world after being selected in August.
“I really felt so grateful,” Hong told the Outlook Valley Sun. “When I realized that I had actually gotten on the team, it just was a feeling like no other. And knowing that this is the first time that someone from La Cañada has been on the team, I really want to use this opportunity to expand competition in World Schools Debate in La Cañada and through our school team.”
Hong will travel to compete in international and national competitions to represent the United States. She learned about the team during her freshman year of high school. This past summer, as an incoming senior, she competed in the World Schools Debate.
“I thought that it sounded like a really amazing opportunity, and tried my best in the application and was honestly, over the moon when I got an interview,” she said. “And then after that, I like could not believe that I made it on the team, it was really super cool.”
For the application, Hong had to submit three videos of herself giving a speech and write a few essays to describe her involvement in the World Schools Debate and why she wanted to be on the national team.
“Waiting was very nerve-wracking,” she said.
Hong also applied to the team after getting some encouragement from her teammates that she competed with this past summer.
“I really found a lot of community and support through debaters that I met from other states at nationals, as well as the Global Debate Symposium,” Hong said. “So, we’ve gotten to know each other a lot through the event competition, and then our shared love for the World Schools Debate format.”
Her teammates were not the only ones encouraging her — her coach from the World Schools Debate, Brandon Batham, gave Hong a lot of feedback on how she could improve.
Hong and her teammates have already started competing and had their first competition in Texas last month when they all got to meet for the first time.
“It was just so inspiring to get to know their stories, how they felt throughout the application process, as well as how their backgrounds in debate were different from mine,” she said. “Also, knowing that we were going to spend the next year together and become really great friends was something that I was really excited about, and I think we all felt this shared anticipation for the new year.”
She will continue to be on the USA Debate team until May when she graduates and is excited to travel to Croatia and Singapore to compete.
“I’m really excited to get to know members from other national teams, and expand my debating style, and diversify the types of people that I’m learning from,” Hong said. “So, I think it’ll be something I’ve never experienced before, and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Hong will also have to balance this new opportunity with school and being co-president of the LCHS speech and debate team, which she is optimistic about.
“It’s definitely been a lot of work to balance everything, but my teachers have been so gracious with my absences,” she said. “So, I’m very grateful for that, and I think that with their help, as well as support from my classmates, I’ll be able to get through it.”
LCHS Principal James Cartnal is also excited for Hong.
“She is competing with teams from around the world and, I think, believes that she has found a second family that has allowed her to get to know students from the other national teams — Canada, Ghana, Singapore, and beyond,” he said. “She is a hardworking student who has applied herself in and outside of school and we are all very proud of her accomplishments.”
Her speech and debate adviser at LCHS, Matthew Sullivan, shared the same sentiment.
“The staff and faculty at LCHS are very proud of Cammie for this tremendous achievement, promoting this and her other successes through all media channels on campus,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan also nominated her for the Academic All-American Awards through the National Speech and Debate Association.
“Over the last four years, I have seen Cammie grow as a skilled communicator and facilitator, providing mentorship to novices and cultivating friendships with many of the club members,” he said.
When Hong joined speech and debate for the first time as a freshman at LCHS, she sought mentorship from the seniors at the time and was excited to fulfill that same role for students as an upperclassman this year.
“As the current co-president of speech and debate, I really try to make an effort to serve in that role for others, and share my passion for speech and debate,” Hong said. “So younger members and underclassmen can hopefully feel the same.”
First published in the October 26 print issue of the Outlook Valley Sun.
