Speech Competitions: Evan

Evan came onto the speech competition stage late. Just three weeks before competition the school realized that they had made a mistake. There are actually two levels of competition: one for English Majors and one for non-English majors. We’d been training Tony for the English Major’s competition when in fact his major is Engineering. Now we needed to scour our campus for an English Major to compete.

Enter Evan. After a hastily thrown together audition on a Tuesday afternoon, Hellen, Julia and I selected Evan as the best our school had to offer on short notice.

Evan, while not demonstrative, is a fine speaker. He instinctively knows how to compose a speech and somehow already knows all about the mechanics of speech writing. For a last minute audition, he shone with his ability to stay in time limits and illustrate his point succinctly. As his coach, I would not have to work much on the content aspects of his speech, like I do with Tony. With Evan, the teachings would be all about presentation and technique.

At first I did not recognize him, even though I know all of the English Majors. At one time or another they have all been my students. Only after he told me his English name did I remember him as the thin, quiet boy in my freshman class of last year. He never did say much in class but when he did he spoke very well. Other than that he was not remarkable.

He had filled out over the summer: gotten a bit taller, grew his hair out into a shaggy bowl and his face had gotten chubbier. I suppose that, along with his quiet presence in class is why I did not recognize him.

As I had been working with Tony for longer than Evan I focused more on Evan at this late stage of the game. Soon I realized that, with Evan’s natural ability to compose speeches, both boys were pretty much on par. I could coach them at the same level. Being as Evan’s strength was content and Tony’s was presentation and technique I set them to working together, instructing each other. I only stepped in to give actual instructions on how to approach a podium, use body language effectively and how to use voice for emphasis.

As with Tony’s entry I will start with dress rehearsal, and convey impressions.

Dress rehearsal: Evan had never worn a suit before. His parents had to take him out suit shopping and to get a haircut: that traditional bowl cut would not do for competition, where presentation counts for so much. The Tuesday before competition he went suit shopping. He sent me a text message telling me how exhausting the whole ordeal was. I laughed and sent him an encouraging message back. Dress rehearsal was Thursday. He arrived at my house with his brand new suit and his tie untied. None of us - Evan, Tony or I knew how to tie a tie. Evan figured it out, but then later untied it instead of just loosening the knot. At my shout of dismay he flopped onto the couch, dismayed himself. Now he was going to have to figure out how to do it again! We had a good laugh about it.

Competition Eve: While I was away at Tony’s competition, Evan trudged all over Wuhan Agricultural University, trying to figure out where on campus to register for competition and draw his seeding. As with Tony’s competition, he had to draw a number to take his place among the 32 contestants, and then attend orientation. Normally his coach would have accompanied him but I was out of town. Hellen – yes, the unpleasant one of the Daisy, Helen, Hellen and Mouse entry posted last June was his other coach. She openly declared - to Evan! – that she wasn’t getting paid any extra to do any coaching. Therefore she saw no need to put forth any extra effort.

Matter of fact, she openly complained to Evan about a lot of stuff, he later told me. The poor kid! He actually told me: “I didn’t know what I was supposed to tell her when she did all that complaining!” I commiserated with him. Being as we had that conversation at 9PM on Competition Eve, after my return from spending the night in one-‘L’ed Helen’s company, I could honestly sympathize with him when he vented about being subjected to two’L’d Hellen’s unpleasant disposition.

And how is it that I keep getting stuck with Helens – one ‘L’ed or two? But, this is about the boys. I’ll speculate about those Helens in another entry, maybe.

Back to Evan. Competition Eve just happened to be his 21st birthday. Whereas our expenses, including train fare to Xian Ning were covered by the school, no funds were disbursed for Evan’s competition. He took it upon himself to not only find where to go, and register for competition by himself but he also checked himself into a hotel near that campus and paid for it out of his own pocket. He declared it was because he is now 21; he needs to start taking care of things himself. Evan is a good boy.

And a considerate boy. He sent me text messages asking how Tony’s competition went, and then later called Tony to talk with him about it. He tried to talk me out of coming to his competition because he reasoned I was so tired from Tony’s competition. Sorry, dear Evan: that’s not how we roll. We’re a team and we are there for each other. Now get off the phone and let me get some sleep so I can wake up at 5AM to attend your competition.

10PM. Hellen finally manifests herself. She asks if I’m going to Evan’s competition in the morning. Because I’m going she decides to go as well. We arrange to meet at our campus’ main gate at 6:20 the following morning and share a cab there. In case she backs out at the last minute I have the directions to the competition, thanks to Evan who sent me the information via text message. I did not tell her that.

Competition morning: I arrive at the gate in plenty of time to meet up with Hellen. She texts that she is eating breakfast near the gate. I find her and wait while she finishes eating. Fortunately we do manage to snag a cab and arrive at the Agricultural University in plenty of time. Only while in the taxi do I tell her that Evan will be waiting for us at the gate. She seems displeased that he and I have colluded behind her back. In the end it paid off because she did not know where to go. Evan jumped in the cab at the gate and led us right to the hall. We had time to take some pictures before Evan was sequestered.

Competition rules: every contestant was to deliver a three-minute prepared speech on the topic: A Word that has Changed the World. Immediately following that speech they are to give another three minute speech on a topic given them just 20 minutes before they take the stage. With two minutes allotted for the Q&A portion of the contest, each competitor had a total of 8 minutes on stage.

Evan was #18 of 33 speakers. While his content and presentation were great he ran a bit short on the Q&A portion of the contest and thus ranked 26th of 33 contestants. As with Tony, Evan expressed relief at the ordeal being over.

After competition Evan introduced me to his parents, who invited me to lunch. That is them, in the picture. Unfortunately, the competition was to culminate in a banquet for the competitors and their coaches. Hellen had declared she was going to bow out of the banquet and had given me the coupons for it. After regretfully declining lunch in Evan’s parents’ company she changed her mind and took the coupons back. I went to lunch with another teacher, Diane from our school, and her family. Evan and I then spent the rest of the afternoon touring the Wuhan A&M campus in the company of Diane and her husband, who teaches physics there. Diane had brought her little boy who, with all respect to my own grandchildren, may well be the cutest kid in the world. Hellen tagged along. For once she did not spend much time nitpicking or criticizing, at least not to me. I do get the distinct impression she does not like me.

I confided that last to Evan as we strolled around campus and played with the baby. He averred that she is one strange woman and was just as glad as I was that she had Diane to talk with. That was the last we talked about her, choosing instead to get to know one another better.

During our chat, Evan made as touching a disclosure as Tony did. He said that, while he was onstage he really couldn’t see into the audience. But he saw a red light. As I had videotaped them in practice, he knew that my camera had a red light that indicated I was recording. He confided that the only thing he could really see while he was onstage was that red light, and that told him I was out there, watching him. He was comforted by my presence. He said that thought gave him the courage to withstand this grueling ordeal.

Evan is Victor’s student this semester. Next semester he will again be in my class. Unlike with Tony, whose company I only get to enjoy socially, and at that only when he has the time, I will have the pleasure of working with Evan again in the near future. That is something I definitely look forward to.