Law student Anita won the national ESU-Churchill Public Speaking Competition with her team in 2014. She has since judged several ESU competitions and mentored other schools in her area.
‘There was never any question that I would volunteer as a judge for the ESU as I had such a great experience in the PSC. I not only learnt how to create a polished speech from disparate ideas; how to articulate and present myself and respond to criticism, I also had a huge amount of fun!
We did notice though that there were a lot of private schools taking part, particularly in the higher stages of the competition, and we wanted to get more people involved. We held an assembly in a local comprehensive which had never entered, and went back every week to mentor the students there who were interested. The school now enters every year, sometimes with two teams.
Judging the heats at the IPSC this year was genuinely one of the most inspirational experiences I’ve had.
Seeing all these incredibly talented young people was awe-inspiring and gave me hope for the future. I intend to go back next year, even if I’m not a judge.’
