A Palo Alto High School Speech and Debate team member is celebrating her successes at the California High School Speech Association State tournament earlier this month.

Junior Jenny Xin qualified for semifinals in the Original Prose and Poetry event. Out of a pool of over 60 competitors, Xin captured 15th in the State.

“The amount of talent in each of the rounds I competed in was terrifyingly high, and the reactions of people from different areas to different OPPs varied each time, which was really interesting for me, especially since I have a stand-up comedy kind of piece,” Xin said.

Speech and Debate director Jennie Savage expressed her pride for Xin.

“Anyone from Paly’s Speech team earning a spot at the State Championship hasn’t happened in over a decade, so it was extremely exciting for Jenny to win districts and qualify to States and even more gratifying that she placed so high once she got there,” Savage said.

According to Xin, one of the highlights of States was meeting new people.

“Up until now, I’ve been competing in tournaments in the local league (Coast Forensics League), but qualifying to states meant that I and six other OPPers from CFL got to meet people from every district in California,” Xin said.

Xin said that attending States was one of the best experiences she has had as a speech member.

“States was an experience I’ve never had before,” Xin said. “Just having different audiences and different reactions was fantastic.”