Every now and then, something happens out of the blue reminding one of a long-ago important life event. That just happened to me.
I received a message from a staff member of the IUPUI Speaker’s Lab. Her message reminded me of a pivotal moment in my life.
I was never an outstanding student in high school. I did well in some subjects, not so well in others. I chose not to attend college when graduating high school in 1969 because I did not think I could handle the academics.
So I attended a broadcasting trade school, worked in radio for about four years when I awoke one morning and decided it was worth a try to enroll in college and see what I could do.
Starting in the fall semester of 1973, all new students were automatically enrolled in a speech class. Even in 1973, a tradition had started at IUPUI for Speech Night. We were told at the start of the semester that attendance at speech night was mandatory, so mark your calendar and plan to be there.
Speech Night is a competition. First, each speech class elects someone as the best speaker. I won that by one vote. Then that winner moves to the semifinal speech competition before about 30 other students. I won the semifinal by one vote.
That brought me to be one of the six finalists in the Speech Night contest. It was a scary experience, speaking before a large, packed lecture hall.
As you can guess by now, I won Speech Night. It was a turning point in my professional life because after leaving the broadcasting business in 1983, I spent a good amount of time in my second career doing public speaking. Speech Night provided me the confidence to pursue the public speaking that became a part of my job in the civil service.
Just a few days ago, I received that message from an employee of the IUPUI Speaker’s Lab. They were searching for the winner of the 1973 Speech Night and found my name in an old school newspaper. An online check hooked us up.
IUPUI is about to celebrate its 100th Speech night and invited me to speak. Due to COVID restrictions, I’ll be sending them a video to play rather than attend in person, but it is an honor to be a part of such a milestone.
I haven’t thought about that Speech Night win for years, but this opportunity has provided me a chance to go back and think about that night and how it changed the direction of my life in so many ways.