An Emporia High School senior has committed to spend the next four years continuing her speech career at the collegiate level.
Alexa Houston signed her letter of intent Thursday afternoon to join the University of Central Missouri Talking Mules, a multi-time top-10 team in the nation, in the fall. During her time at EHS, Houston took part in a number of events, including four years of debate and two years of forensics competition where she was involved in events such as program oral interpretation (POI) and poetry interpretation.
Houston says she chose to pursue speech and debate because it allowed her to share her voice in a way no other activity could.
Collegiate speech competition requires weekly travel to other colleges across the country, and UCM takes a unique trip every year in the spring to debate schools in the United Kingdom for the annual Montgomery Cup. UCM Assistant Director of Forensics Nicole Freeman says while the travel schedule can be exhausting, it allows college students the unique chance to gain new perspectives from people of other backgrounds and cultures.
Houston was awarded a scholarship after her audition for the team last week. The collegiate speech season will begin in late August.
Photo by: Tagan Trahoon/KVOE News
Alexa Houston and EHS head coach Scott Bonnet pose together after Thursday’s signing.
