The UW-Eau Claire forensics team finished their season with two members competing in the 149th Interstate Oratory Association Contest from April 22 to 23. Blugolds Brock Erdman and Meghan Roeser represented Wisconsin as the top two finalists.

Roeser is a fourth-year comprehensive social work student and has been on the team since her second year at UW-Eau Claire. Roeser said she was in four categories last year and wanted to put in more work this year. 

For her last year in college forensics, Roeser competed in After Dinner Speaking, Dramatic Interpretation, Persuasive Speaking, Prose Interpretation and Duo Interpretation with her partner Annie Ward.

She explained that she usually picks topics related to feminism, and this year chose the accessibility of abortion clinics as her persuasive speaking topic, and vasectomies as she and her partner’s After Dinner Speaking topic. 

“I felt like I really got the chance to dive into that this year and speak my mind and really advocate for the things that I’m personally passionate about,” Roeser said. 

She said college forensics allowed her to not only better explore her interests more than she could in high school but also improved her confidence. 

In addition, she said that due to forensics, her writing has improved so much that even her professors have taken note. Additionally, she formed a community with her teammates through college forensics. 

“There is a relationship and a connection there and that’s something that sticks with you beyond graduation and beyond your involvement,” Roeser said. 

She explained that every member of her team has been able to make it to an out round in one of the four national tournaments. 

Those tournaments are the Asynchronous Speech Championship, the American Forensic Association National Tournament, the National Forensic Association Championship Tournament and the Interstate Oratory Association Contest. 

“We, as a team — compared to some others — we’re considered a small but mighty team, and this year we really got to prove ourselves at a national level,” Roeser said. 

Roeser said she will miss the forensics community and the ability to see her team members every week after she graduates. 

Roeser’s team member, Jax Prokott, a fourth-year economics student, was able to make it to the octo-finals in the NFA tournament this year, along with making it to the out round in other competitions, during only their second year on the team. 

With only being in three in-person competitions last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Prokott said they were glad to be competing fully in person again. While they said they didn’t make it to as many events as they had hoped to, they still feel they had a successful season.

“I felt like I was able to communicate more effectively with the audience when it was in person,” Prokott said. 

This year, Prokott explained they had a nice time connecting with the first-year students and also said being in forensics has allowed them to make improvements in their writing, which echoed Roeser’s earlier statement. 

“It’s a lot more of a time commitment but I also think it’s a lot more fun,” Prokott said.

Curtin can be reached at [email protected].