By Ciaran Lambert/reporter

Students from Texas and Louisiana will head to NE Campus for a speech contest.

The NE communication arts department will host its fifth annual Newly New Newbie Novice Tournament, a speech competition that consists of acting events, public speaking events and debate.

The tournament was created by the NE speech program five years ago to help college students who want to participate in collegiate speech and debate “learn in a safe-zone style tournament,” said department chair Lisa Benedetti.

TCC speech students will compete with students from community and four-year colleges across Texas and Louisiana.

While some speech tournaments separate two-year and four-year schools, this tournament does not. The Newbie tournament welcomes students from schools ranging from Southern Methodist University to Lone Star College System in the Houston area.

NE student Brandon Wimmer competed in prose and impromptu competitions last year.

“Honestly? The best word to describe [the tournament] would be a military quote, ‘Long stretches of boredom filled with minutes of adrenaline,’” he said. 

Courtney Stewart, a fellow NE student, has a favorite part of competing.

“Developing a character and falling in love with it,” she said.

Anne Fleischer, NE speech instructor, said she enjoys watching the students grow and learn more about the tournament and making new friends with people in the state and the nation.

“There are always bumbles, or learning moments, that happen with new students,” she said.

But students move on and become more confident, and they enjoy getting to know students from other colleges, Fleischer said.

“I love seeing a bunch of people come together and learn names by hanging out before the start of each round.”

For more information, contact Benedetti at lisa.benedetti@tccd.edu.