The Forensic Competition is a public speaking competition where students from various high schools come and recite pieces of literature, not to be mistaken for forensic science, with two ‘Rines chasing the trophy.

Seniors Cienneh Syrion and Roberta Ewane both participated in the quarterfinal rounds, but only Syrion advanced to semifinals and finals. “Making it to quarterfinals is a big deal, considering we’ve been working all year to get to this point. We had two people representing Watkins Mill so that’s pretty exciting,” forensics sponsor Chris Smith said.

Syrion placed in the top six competitors in poetry during semifinals, but will not know what she placed for finals until awards night on February 27. The goal for each contestant is to rank in the top eight of their category. There are ten literary categories and around 80 contestants, according to Ewane.

“The process has been very rewarding to me because I have grown so much. I’ve gotten more comfortable with speaking in front of people. I used to have terrible stage fright. Winning would be a sign of how far I’ve come, and one more trophy and scholarship for me,” Syrion added.

“I wanted to participate in forensics because it was a way to get better and more comfortable with public speaking. I want to know how to practice and perform the best I can,” Syrion said. Syrion performed “To this Day” by Shane Koyczan because “it is a very emotional piece, that applies to kids [her] age.”

“I wanted to participate for my love of performing and acting, which is basically the key to Forensics,” Ewane said. “Honestly when I found out I placed in semifinals, I was in shock. I thought I flopped in my performance, but I guess the judges saw something in my performance that was good.”

“They can win a trophy but they also win notoriety in the forensics club and may lead to opportunities beyond high school if they’re trying to get into a certain program at a college… That could be a good opportunity to show some pursuit of things outside of the academic curriculum,” Smith said.