Examining Sydney Erhardt’s speech career, most people would assume that she has been destined for public speaking since birth. Sydney devotes hours every day to scouring news sites and RSS feeds for relevant articles about international policy. Ask Sydney about the current Crimean crisis, and she’ll give you a more specific, well-researched answer than the average Crimean – all while relating it to the latest bizarre animal story she found on Google. Even more impressively, Sydney’s hard work has earned her the title of reigning Extemporaneous Speech State Champion two years running. Compelled to compete against rival speakers by delivering six minute answers to questions on foreign policy, politics and the global economy, Sydney seems like the consummate speech competitor.

But when asked, Sydney says that speech was never actually part of the plan. “Hannah Brummund and Matt Lockett tried to convince me to do it in seventh grade, and then I decided that I was going to run cross country and do track instead,” she laughs, rolling her eyes bashfully. “And then in eighth grade I figured, ‘Hey. Maybe I should do something that I’m actually good at – and it was speaking.” Cal Vande Hoef, Sydney’s extemporaneous speaking coach, agrees with his protégé’s self-assessment. “We try not to have expectations for anyone, but when she started…it became apparent that she was motivated after a relatively short amount of time. One of the reasons we put her in extemporaneous speaking is because she needed more to do!”

However, Sydney knows that determination alone is rarely enough to win a state championship. When asked if she has any advice for aspiring state champions, Sydney responded, “You have to love what you do, and I don’t think that goes for just state champions. I think that goes for anyone who wants to be successful and feel good about the activity that they’re in.” Pausing briefly, she then continued, “But it takes a bit of luck and a whole lot of support. So it’s a combination of love, luck and support that gets you there.”

What sort of support does Sydney recommend? “Coaches who were willing to be barged in on in between their classes because I didn’t know what shuttle diplomacy was and I had just read an article about John Kerry.”  Shuttle diplomacy, of course, being negotiations between two hostile parties through a mediator. Had Sydney not received her coaches’ support, she may have never made the connection between this term and John Kerry’s mediation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, let alone conveyed such information in her extemporaneous speeches. That said, Sydney is also very grateful for the support of her friends. Sydney claims that close friend and fellow speech captain Hannah Brummund “knows how stressed out I’m getting by the marks on my fingernails, because I’m chewing them down before state.”

Ultimately, Sydney’s state championship success came about as a result of her hard work, natural talent, and tenacious support system. No matter how or why Sydney found herself on the speech team, her unparalleled triumph is undeniable and her unshakable optimism for the future admirable. Sydney described the pressure to win the state champion title this year as “unbelievable,” but also firmly believes that “next year it’ll be better, because I think I’ll know what to expect.” As Katie Erhardt, Sydney’s younger sister, acknowledges, “She is determined in everything she does – even laundry.”