What is an aspect of your culture that has deeply influenced who you are?

It’s a thoughtful question that invites deep personal reflection. It doesn’t limit the idea of culture to ethnicity or nationality; it could invoke thoughts of family, religion, language or pop culture. The beauty of the question lies in the storytelling and authenticity it encourages, and that’s exactly what took place at this year’s Sophomore Speech Contest.

One by one, an elected speaker from each of Blair’s English 2 classes took to the stage in DuBois Theatre. Steven Accomando ’27, Lola Bambe ’27, George Gimbel ’27, Grady Hausler ’27, Zamoi Jones ’27, Cake Ongnithiwat ’27, Tyler Roderick ’27, Enhao Tian ’27 and Lucy Wei ’27 rose to the occasion, sharing with classmates and teachers a personal experience with culture and how it shaped who they are today. Their stories were met with thunderous applause, acknowledgment that their acts of bravery did not go unnoticed.

“The Sophomore Speech Contest has for many years been one of the great traditions here at Blair,” English department chair and contest organizer Jim Moore, Hon. ’93, explains. “By the time our students become 10th graders, they’ve made the transition from just saying something to having something to say. And this year’s group, indeed, had a lot to say about their families, their communities, their cultures and the meaning they’ve begun to derive from them.”

In the end, it was George Gimbel who emerged as the victor, speaking about his path of discovery to learning more about his Cuban heritage through his combined love of research and his dear abuela. Zamoi Jones captured second place and Lucy Wei placed third overall.

“George should be proud of himself for staying true to his voice,” English 2 teacher Eliza Link shares. “He used his Model U.N. experience well and took advantage of his conference blocks to workshop his speech. I really wanted to focus on authenticity with my class, and I’m proud of how George was able to do that throughout the process.”