GIVING BACK … is a priviledge!

By Shirley M. Carolan, ATM-G


One of the true perks of being a long time member of Toastmasters International is that many civic groups get to hear about you and offer you the opportunity to judge high school contestants using their public speaking skills at the various levels of competition.

This is an opportunity I truly love. It takes me back to my teen years when I represented my high school, Queen of the Rosary Academy, Amityville, NY, in the Long Island Oratorical Championships. I was 15 ½ years old and had emigrated to America just one year earlier. I was a senior in high school. The nuns felt they had a winner in me because of my strong British accent. Alas, I came in second place because the judges said that the American students had to acquire “that accent” (British) in order to be heard distinctly all over the auditorium. Nevertheless, it was a wonderful experience.

February 8 was any opportunity to give back to my community again as a judge.. The Lions Club of Carlsbad held their local public speaking contest. It was wonderful and I was in awe of all the students who participated. They were all talented and unique in their content and delivery. I wrote the following article for local newspapers:

"CARLSBAD LIONS CLUB HOLDS CONTEST

The Carlsbad Lions Club hosted its annual Students Speaker Contest on February 8, 2009 at The Granary, Magee Park, Carlsbad. Four students from Carlsbad High School participated. Their topic was “Water – Will California be Left High & Dry?” Each contestant researched, wrote material and spoke for 5 to 10 minutes.
Local Toastmasters, Pat Rarus and Shirley Carolan from Tick Talk Toastmaster Club, Carlsbad, were again invited to be part of the panel of judges and later gave feedback to the speakers.

The goal of the contest is to encourage youth involvement, develop self-esteem, confidence in public speaking and offer financial scholarships for the formal education of the students. For more information on this event contact Elaine Brammel at 760-753-1175, or EPBCMA@aol.com.

Students participating were: Ibriham Keyrollos, Natasha Maldi, Kathryn Allan and Yujia Pan. The winner was Yujia Pan who received $50 and each of the contestants received $25. Yujia will now go on to participate at the Zone level."


(Pictured above are, left to right: Toastmaster Shirley Carolan, Yujia Pan, winner, and Toastmaster Pat Rarus).