East Bay Student Wins Rotary Speech Contest

East Bay High School senior Sierra Rock took top honors and received a check for $300 Wednesday for the area Rotary clubs' annual speech contest held at Buckhorn Springs Golf & Country Club during the regular meeting of the Brandon South Rotary Club.

Rock represented the Brandon South Rotary Club in the speech contest. She previously received a $100 check after winning the club's contest.

Rock was one of four contestants, each representing a different club in the area.
She will now represent District 6890 at the district conference held at Rotary’s Camp Florida April 9.

The Riverview teen impressed the judges with her speech using the Rotary theme, "Building Communities, Building Bridges," as she spoke of the Rotary's mission and how it coincides with her experiences growing up as the daughter of a teen mother and then mentoring up and coming softball players on her high school team. She credits her church, South United Methodist Church in Riverview, and her pastor, John Legg, with providing the community and building the bridges she needed to succeed, similar to the way the Rotary Club builds bridges in its community and around the world to ensure the success of others.

After the contest, Rock talked about five things it takes to produce an award-winning speech.

1. "The biggest thing was the advice I got from my pastor. He helped me a lot when I was writing my speech and rehearsing it."

2. "You have to have confidence. I was very nervous giving my speech but I tried not to let it show."

3. "Memorization -- I used notes to jog my memory but I had most of my speech memorized."

4. "Good eye contact and pauses in the right places are important to making a good speech."

5. "The speech has to stay on topic but I tried to key my life and experiences into the topic," said Rock, a graduate of the Dale Carnegie course on public speaking.

Following the content, Hillsborough Community College adjunct professor Earl Paul, one of four judges on Wednesday, gave Rock tips on using the microphone to advantage and engaging her audience.

Rock plans to attend Hillsborough Community College and then go on to a university to get a degree in veterinary sciences. She hopes to become a veterinarian.

Her competition included Lauren Snodgrass of Brandon High School, who received second place and $100. Also a senior, Snodgrass plans to attend the University of South Florida.

Tying for third place were Newsome High School senior Ryan Gibson and East Bay senior Jenifer Thomas.

Valedictorian of his class, Gibson is deciding between attending Duke or Vanderbilt universities to pursue a medical degree.

Thomas plans to attend Hillsborough Community College to pursue a degree in the vocal arts.