Accomplished Arguers: Q/A With Speech and Debate's Ryland Wilson, Presley Jerman, and Eli Mishyn
Updated: Mar 20
BV Newsroom
By Mark Yadchuk and Nicholas Dam
Fair Oaks, CA - March 20, 2026
Bella Vista Speech and Debate is a club on campus that allows students to compete in complex, but fun, intellectual competitions that feature a large variety of events- including Lincoln-Douglas debates, impromptu speeches, public forum, and more. The team goes to multiple competitions each season, this year with the National Catholic Forensics League and California High School Speech Association.
The team is still relatively new on campus- founded during the 2024-25 school year by now junior Ryland Wilson. Since then, the club has grown tremendously and the team’s performance at competitions has improved, too. Reflecting that is Junior Presley Jerman’s amazing accomplishment of making the CHSSA State Tournament that will be on April 17-19 at James Logan High School.
To discuss the team’s season so far, Presley’s accomplishment, and what makes this activity so special, we had the privilege to sit down with club members Ryland Wilson, Presley Jerman, and Eli Mishyn. Below is our complete interview, slightly edited for flow- but the meaning has been preserved:
Q: Thank you so much for doing this interview with us! For our first question, what is your description of speech and debate? What are the features of competitions and what kind of events are there for students?
Presley: If I were to describe speech and debate, I'd say it's just a great place to share your voice and to share your stories. A couple of competition events are interpretive events, which are acting events, public address events, which is a great place for you to share your stories, and then of course there are debates, where we debate different resolutions.
Ryland: I'll add that there's a bunch of different categories of events. I don't even know the specific number, but I think it's around like 30 different events, so there really is an event for everyone. Some of them are like day-of preparation, like impromptu [speeches that are delivered without any preparation or predetermination] prompts. Sometimes, people prepare for them for an entire year. So, there's all different kinds. In debates, you're going up against someone in speech, so it’s more of a personal thing. So, you know, it takes all shapes and forms.
Eli: Yeah, especially following up what Ryland said, in debate if you want to go against someone, you can do that. It's called Lincoln Douglas. You have to prepare about 2 or 3 weeks in advance, and in that way you can create your own case. So, you could be like your own lawyer in a sense. You are assigned the affirmative or negative position before the event (this is chosen for you).
Q: When was your last competition and when is your next one?
Ryland: March 13th and 14th was the speech state qualifier. It was just a speech tournament and it was the state qualifier where we had one student [Presley] qualify for states. That will be on April 17th. Our next tournament that anyone can go to will be on April 10th to 12th- the nationals qualifier. It’s going to include debate and speech events [every event].
Q: What's your favorite part of speech and debate?
Presley: It's a great place to share a lot of things that you might not normally feel confident talking about. I think it's a great place to just really express yourself, because it's such a supportive community and it's a place for you to share what you care about and your stories.
Ryland: I think it's a great place to get better at speaking, obviously. You're going in, you're competing and you learn something new every time. You're getting judged when you do this and a lot of the judges are very great and they'll give you amazing feedback, so you'll learn how to speak better, you'll learn how to prepare arguments better, and really it's ultimately just like every tournament is a learning experience, you know? It's not about the results, it's about the journey you're going along the way, and by the end you'll be a much better speaker than you were when you first started.
Eli: Yeah, what I love about speech and debate is the community that fosters our passions. So for example, if you want to learn about a new topic, especially in debate, you can learn something new every single time. You can do research, You can talk to others. Everyone is so supportive there. Everyone wants you to succeed in everything that you do. And the judges also who judge you, they are so nice, they're supportive. And especially in impromptu and extemporaneous speeches, those types, they're very fun to do and they help, like everyone said, they develop your skills of public speaking and how to enunciate words more properly. So if you're having trouble with that, it would be a great way to do speech and debate.
Q: So what got you guys into speech and debate, and when did you start doing it?
Presley: I started it when we first started the club, Ryland started the club. I did a little bit of speech and debate called World Schools in middle school, and then I stopped, and then in high school again, sophomore year, we started the club, and I just thought it would be a great idea to join to do competition.
Ryland: I was on a debate team my 8th grade year. I did public forum debate, and I wasn't very good. I only won a couple rounds, ever, but you know, that carried over. And so I started the club last year, and we didn't go to a ton of tournaments, but it was a great starting point. And ever since then, it's been a great journey. And I think speech and debate is for everyone, and I think every school should have it. It sucks that like there's, you know, there's not that many schools that have it. So, we still want to make it big at Bella Vista.
Eli: Yeah, so for speech and debate, I started this year actually, so it's my first time ever doing this. And I would say it's been like an honor to be with Presley and Ryland in their contributions in helping me out and like every single question that I had and the tournament.
Q: We’ve already touched on this a bit, but what sort of skills have you learned through being a part of this team?
Presley: I've really learned not only how to improve my research, but how to speak more persuasively, eloquently, and I really think it helps with thinking on the fly. So, if you're a person who does a lot of like, “um, um, um” stuttering, Speech and debate will help you with that so much.
Ryland: Yeah, definitely, because I do impromptu events mostly. I have become significantly better at being able to create an argument or a thesis like on the fly, because in an impromptu event you get a prompt, you get a couple minutes to think about it, and then you have to give a like 5-minute speech on it. So, I've really gotten good at taking those one-word prompts. You'll just get a single word and really create a whole idea, a thought, and something that's complete and ready to present to someone just so quickly. And it helps in all aspects. Of course, the most pertinent is school presentations. You know, you'll become so good at those and you will never have to prepare again. But beyond that, just talking to people, you'll be a lot more interesting, I think.
Eli: Yeah, there's two main things I think Presley touched on. They're thinking on the fly and saying words more properly. So for example, when you're doing Lincoln Douglas, you are doing a cross-examination round. You have to think of questions to ask your opponent, and the other one has to think of the answers, which you have to do it like right away because you don't know the questions in advance. So especially knowing how to do that and developing those skills every single time you do those debates, it helps out with critical thinking, which is a very important skill in the workforce and even in school. Also, speaking more properly and knowing how to say words more clearly, that's important.
Q: For Presley, how did it feel to make States, and what goes into your preparation for that sort of thing?
Presley: Yeah, it felt great to make States. It was something that I've been aiming to do all year, and my preparation usually starts with trying to figure out a theme or something I want to share and then finding stories based off of that. My preparation usually takes about a month or so per piece. I made States for Dramatic Interpretation, which is an interpretation acting event, and my piece is Every Brilliant Thing, which is like a one-man play.
Q: Awesome! And then last question, just to anyone who's interested in joining the team next year, what would you say to them and what can they expect?
Ryland: I'll take that question. I would say that if you're interested, there are tons of different events and some of them might look super intimidating, but remember that there's always something for you and you can bounce around. You're not stuck to one event. So, I encourage people to try out different things, try out different forms of debate, different forms of speech, and you will find something that you love. Beyond that, at the tournaments, you will find new people and you will make a ton of new friends. Like, I have met so many people from so many different schools that I've become close with, and the community is just amazing. Everybody is there to help and get better. Everyone is trying to get better at speaking, and I promise you that with more practice, you will become an amazing speaker!
Q: Alright, thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview and good luck for the rest of your season!
For anyone who is potentially interested in joining the team for next year, look out for club sign-ups in the fall or connect with one of these club members to find out more information! Best of luck to the team for the rest of their season, including Presley at States!
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