Ainger Peck Award 2024
The Ainger Peck Award is a public speaking award held by the Rotary Club of Richmond annually. Engendering communication skills and creativity, the competition is open to all highschool students across Melbourne. This year, two Mac.Rob students participated in the preliminary rounds of the Ainger Peck Award: Meenakshi D and Harshitha M. Through our participation in this competition, we have been able to grow as public speakers, communicators and global-minded thinkers. In this article, we reflect on our personal experiences with the competition.
Ultimately, the 2024 Ainger Peck Award gave us the opportunity to impart a genuine message, whether it be through humour or passion. Simply being in the presence of many skilled and dedicated speakers crafts an atmosphere worth remembering, where students demonstrate a level of self-development, confidence and maturity that is unmatched. Phenomenally, Harshitha, who scored 2nd place in her heat, will be attending the finals on the 27th of May, extending her experience once again and being surrounded by skilled speakers at a wonderful event held in Richmond. We’re both so grateful for this opportunity and are looking forward to further exciting experiences!
Meenakshi D (11F) & Harshitha M (12A)
“When you look in the mirror, what do you see?”
When we look at ourselves in the mirror, we see a lot of things. Perhaps we smile at the reflection we see, perhaps we’re instead fixated on our imperfections. But often it’s not just a physical mirror that’s a barrier to our self-development, sometimes it’s our internal mirror; looking back inside towards our personality, our goals and accomplishments, that can be so daunting and confronting.
Thus, my speech at this year’s 2024 Rotary Club Ainger Peck Public Speaking Competition was an act of rebellion. Attending this competition for the second year, it felt like I was looking into a mirror again. Seeing all those passionate students going up and speaking, just like me, I realised that as part of my second year in this competition, I wasn’t here to win, as such. I was here to share a message. Because that’s what public speaking is, right? The beauty of public speaking is not just talking; it’s making people listen. It’s giving them a message worth remembering, for which the podium is an incredible platform.
We’re no stranger to the voices in our heads that tell us “I can’t” or “no”. We’re no stranger to the voices in our heads that tell us “that’s so embarrassing” or “I’m not good enough”.
So why did I speak about this topic? I wanted to rebel against these piercing inner voices. I wanted to rebel against the voices of “I can’t”. I wanted to personify these struggles, and break free from the boundaries of public speaking and my own mind, stepping away from the podium to embrace and embody my dangerously intense emotions.
I confidently and defiantly told the audience “YOU CAN”, even when you think you cannot.
And now I am content, knowing that when the audience thinks of my speech, they will think of the words “you can”. They will see me as their mirror, putting their own struggles into words. Because that’s the beauty of a competition like this, where students have the freedom to share anything that they care about. Any message filled with authenticity and emotion is worth sharing, and I am so grateful to have been able to share mine.
Meenakshi D (11F)
“The End of an Era”
This was the topic of one of the participants’ speeches in my heat of the 2024 Rotary Club Ainger Peck Award. My heat, held on Thursday, May 16th, was the final preliminary heat for the competition. Not only that, it was my final Ainger Peck Award, with this being my third consecutive year of participation. That was the last time I would get up on that stage, smile at the familiar judges’ faces, and launch into the four minute speech I spent weeks preparing for.
The end of an era couldn’t have been more apt to describe it.
Most people think about public speaking in discrete, opportunistic ways. However, the Ainger Peck Award, time and time again, has crystallised to me the real benefit of public speaking: imparting people with a message that will resonate with them.
This year, my speech was confusingly weird — it involved me talking to my hand, which was a metaphorical stand-in for a sentient menstrual pad. The topic I had chosen was “Period Math”, a comedic foray into menstruation, and the mostly horrible things that come with it.
This topic was uncomfortable and niche. But the choice paid off; other participants, parents, and the judges thanked me for talking about something that is so often overlooked and trivialised. They thanked me for allowing them to sit in their own discomfort, and then laugh — because menstruation, just like every other weird and disruptive phenomenon in our lives, deserves to be laughed about.
I’m proud to say that, through the Ainger Peck Award, I’ve been able to impart something vital, if only to a room of high school students and parents. So really, this isn’t the end of an era. Through our words and voice, we were all able to leave a small piece of our legacy behind.
Harshitha M (12A)