Speaking confidently in front of a room of people is one of the most common fears in the nation. This is not a fear of senior Cristy Dougherty. Since her freshman year, she has been a part of the Varsity Speech team.

“Speech has shaped who I am as a person,” said Dougherty. “Speech is something I enjoy. Speech is acting and speaking all wrapped up into one, which are two of the things I love doing the most.”

Cristy will be continuing her speaking career at Concordia College – Moorhead. She received a $10,000 Forensics scholarship for her to be apart of the speech team.

“It makes me incredibly excited to know that I am going to be a part of something that is bigger than myself,” said Dougherty. “But it is also a little nerve racking because I don’t know if I am going to pursue this as a career.”

She said that she felt if she didn’t continue to speak in college, it would be like all of the hard work and hours of practice she did over the years go to waste. She has worked with speech coach Mark Thul for the four years of her speech career.

“The qualities that make her a good speaker are her ability to access her own work,” said Thul, “ but to also take constructive criticism. It is rare to have someone who can do both.”

Even though Dougherty is leaving for Concordia in a few short months, she will never forget the people here who have helped her in her speech journey. Her ability to speak will never leave the thoughts of the speech team who will succeed her.

“Mr. Thul has been a huge inspiration for me,” said Dougherty. “He was actually the first teacher who actually challenged me and pushed me to do better. Speech is the one thing I feel confident in and has molded me into who I am today.”

Speech can be a difficult thing for some students to grasp. Well, Cristy grasped onto it and never let it go. Thul said that it has been phenomenal to coach her over the years. He said that Cristy started as a freshman who wouldn’t listen to critiques, but now she is a confident speaker who is always ready.

“Her ability to be self aware is one of her greatest improvements,” said Thul. “In one year, she grabbed onto it, and allowed others to help her as she needed. She has worked hard, over the years, for her scholarship. She had some tough competition, and for her to get into that group, it was excellent.”

Moving his feet rapidly back and forth while sitting in a desk in class and quietly moving his mouth, Senior Brady Mueller is notorious for practicing his speech silently to himself while sitting in class.

Winning the Most Supportive award and Most Valuable Senior (and the perfectionist award) at the speech banquet, Mueller is known for his dedication and his constant practice, perfecting every move and articulating every word.

“I am able to interpret words with my own emotions,” said Mueller. “I am able to look at a script and read it and picture how I would do it.”

Being a speech member for only two years, as a junior Mueller attended speech state as a novice. He worked hard in the category of creative expression to make it to state.

“His drive to improve is one of his strongest qualities,” said head speech coach Mark Thul. “He thinks and works hard at how he is going to present.”

Attending Gustavis Adolphis in the fall of 2011, Mueller has received a $2,000 a year renewable forensics scholarship specifically for speech. He plans to double major in English and communication. He says that he wants to teach, but even if he doesn’t end up doing that, there is still a lot he can do with those degrees.

“My hope for Brady is happiness,” said Thul. “I mean it’s my hope for everyone. What that entails for him? He’ll have to figure that out for himself.”