Forensics squad opens season with linguistic legacy on its mind

West Forensics has started with a bang! For anyone who loves public speaking, forensics provides an opportunity. Students might write their own creative speeches, or participate in interpretive categories such as poetry or prose. They can even try out the acting categories such as Solo Serious, for those who enjoy theater, and improv categories for those who enjoy thinking under pressure. 

Students work hard to prepare for tournaments on weekends, where they compete against students from other schools.

“It’s a lot of practicing and what that entails exactly is different based on the category, but overall students work on refining those speaking skills, practicing their pieces or practicing writing their pieces,” assistant coach Michelle Huettl said. “A lot of students take the feedback they get from judges each weekend and work to further develop their pieces based on those critiques.”

Practices typically run from after school until 6 PM most days.

“Generally, for the majority of students, forensics is a five-month season,which is longer than the vast majority of sports,” Huettl said.

This amount of time spent improving undoubtedly pays off at tournaments. This same improvement has been seen, despite just a few tournaments into the season. Students gain personal awards, but the team as a whole also has an opportunity to gain overall awards, through a point-based system.

“We placed first at our tournament on February 3 at Slinger. We got first place for Small Team, which is great,” Huettl said.

Though the season is starting off strong, it’s still only the beginning. The team continues to grow and evolve.

“It’s been interesting, we have a much larger team this year, which has introduced an interesting new dynamic,” senior Marcus Miller said. “The team last year was very close, and welcoming a bunch of new people has been fun and exciting. We have a very talented group of people that are new to forensics and are already making a scene.”

But with the surge of fresh-faced ‘forensicators’, advisors are divided in the amount of time they can spend on each person. This gives even more motivation to them to step up for each other.

“Mr. Thurwatcher and Ms. Huettl are spread very thin with the amount of people,” Miller said. “Luckily, the senior class is very independent, but that doesn’t mean we don’t still need their help from time to time. It’s important that we’re able to work together and be able to help each other grow.”

Huettl reflects on what she is looking forward to most this season.

“Watching our new forensicators grow and seeing their growth is always fun to watch, same with watching our seniors gain great success,” she said. “We have a very special group of seniors this year.”

But with the impending graduation of the senior class, eyes are shifting towards the younger generations.

“I think the upcoming juniors show amazing promise and potential. They’re already doing amazing things, like Tenna Ruetten and Mike Smithson -- they are just continuing that progress and that legacy for West,” Miller said. “We’re still off the backs of Covid right now, so the senior class had a limp leg, but this class had such a strong start going into last year. I think in the next couple of years, Oshkosh West is going to be a splash on the scene of forensics.”

Miller owes much of that to the mentors of forensics.

“We do have the talents of Mr. Thurwatcher and Ms. Huettl guiding us; no one would be here without them holding our hands,” he said.

But that growth and success is made even more feasible, not only with the advisors, but by supporting others.

“I feel like our team is very accepting and welcoming of each other and I feel like that dynamic will allow us to grow off one another,” Miller said. “We’re able to help each other develop and better ourselves in our categories; it’s all about increasing scores and finding personal growth.”

But scores aren’t all forensics is about: it’s an activity that teaches students communication, social skills, creativity, writing skills, and critical thinking. These are skills that students can take and use beyond the realm of forensics.

“It’s all about communication and expressing yourself -- you can do that with a speech, an acting piece, just communicate what you want to the world and put that out there,” Miller said. 

Passion is a major piece of the forensics puzzle, and an outlet for personal interests. Sophomore Sam Unger is thinking about joining the activity for these reasons.

“I think it might help with speaking in public,” he said. “My goals are to talk about things that I'm passionate about; I just love talking about stuff like that.”

Miller gains pride in himself from competing in forensics.

“It’s very heartwarming to know that people think you have value, but also to find that value within yourself by being proud of what you do and what you’re able to do.”

The structure and commitment needed for forensics help students, like Nick Miller, in managing work loads.

“I've become much better at handling work, like I've been better at doing things outside of school,” he said. “I've definitely gotten more confident and I’ve gotten better at not slurring my words together.”

The years of continued success leaves a lot resting on the backs of these students. Miller hopes that these accomplishments don’t fuel a poor mentality within the group.

“There’s a legacy, Mr. Thurwatcher often says that we are a victim of our own success,” he said. “We often outperform most of the schools in our region in terms of acting, and it’s hard because you don’t want to be obsessed and addicted to that adrenaline of high placement but you also want to do well for your team and yourself.”

Finding that balance is extremely important in making it through forensics.

“It’s a cord to strike between a healthy goal or an unhealthy obsession, that’s often one I find myself in,” Marcus Miller said.

But throughout this year Miller’s found ways to avoid the pitfalls of greed.

“I’ve noticed that the more you care about each other, the less you have to worry about yourself.”

by Addi and Chloe Lusvardi

Published on February 26 2024

Oshkosh West Index vol 120 issue V