Alexandra Davalos is a freshman at Mt. SAC Early College Academy and she has kept herself quite busy in the past few months that she has been here. Not only is she a part of the speech and debate team, but she is also a member of the Academic Decathlon team as well.

Speech and debate is held in Ms. Sprague, the math teacher’s classroom, and is mainly coached by Mike Davis. In the class, students get to choose which events they will be in, whether it is the DI (Dramatic Interpretation) event, the OO (Original Oratory) event, Information event, and many other events. Alex is in the DI event, where students are able to act out their speeches. However, in the OO event, students can give either a persuasive or informative speech.

Being on the team also comes with the perk of getting to travel to compete. This year, the team has been able to travel to Illinois twice. The first time, only four members of the team were allowed to compete in Chicago, and Alex was one of those few. 

“Going to the Chicago trip was exciting, but also it’s the most pressure I’ve ever felt” Alex admits. “Not only do you have the unspoken pressure to do good, but you also have to be aware at all times and stay on top of [everything].”

On the other side, Academic Decathlon students are currently studying the American Revolution. They are also getting ready to deliver both a prepared and impromptu speech as well an interview for their first competition on January 28th. 

“As a person who kind of finds enjoyment in studying, you know it gives me something to do,” Alex describes. “[I]t’s not like as boring as people make it sound because you get to learn a lot of new things, like more advanced than your year… I expand my knowledge so when I actually get to that stuff in the school year, it’s a lot easier for me.”

Being in Academic Decathlon even intrigued Alex in history, something that didn’t really spark her interest before.

“My favorite subject from Decathlon would probably be history, surprisingly” Alex admits. “I hate history but for some reason studying it was kind of actually really fun.”

At home, Alex spends her time finishing work or even doing some of the things she enjoys that she finds to be de-stressing.

“[I]f I have time, I go for a walk or I like, you know, do some drawings for de-stressing,” Alex says. “I also read, that’s also de-stressing.”