Reflecting on the journey that guided her to a silver medal and second place finish in the 2018 IHSA State Speech Tournament, Rochelle Township High School senior Nephertiti Valle acknowledged many experiences and many people.
The IHSA State Speech Meet was Feb. 16-17 in Peoria. The high school sent a dozen students to compete in three events: Valle in individual events Special Occasion Speaking and Oratorical Declamation as well as the Performance in the Round cast which recreated Shakespeare’s, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
Preliminary rounds were performed over the course of two days. Those with the highest scores advanced to the final round of competition Feb. 17. Results were announced at an awards ceremony in the Peoria Civic Center.
Valle was named the runner up — second place winner in the Illinois Special Occasion Speaking event having delivered an original speech on the importance of understanding and accepting multiculturalism in our world today.
She came to Special Occasion Speaking during her junior year on Speech Team. Last year’s topic was stranger danger, chosen, “as a message to classmates; encouraging them to open themselves up and expand their friendship bases face to face,” she said. “With social media and all of its dangers, getting to know someone face to face is probably among the safest practices today.”
For her final season topic, Valle decided to tackle a subject relevant to personal experience that would challenge her intellectually. And so, she chose multiculturalism in our society.
She incorporated personal experiences and humorous moments navigating the various cultures and traditions within her own family with the perspectives of classmates, fellow musicians and favorite authors.
“I am American-born. My father is Salvadorian. My mother is half Spanish and half Mexican; four cultures with very different traditions,” she explained.

The role of culture in our society was a recurring theme during the discussions of the books Valle read in Kristin Flanagan’s Novels class. Among the titles they discussed, “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury, “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” by Mark Haddon, and “The Joy Luck Club” by Amy Tan. Overseeing those discussions was Flanagan’s student teacher whose parents are from Yemen.  
From Nephy’s speech:
I constantly ask myself, who exactly am I? Well, I’m Nephertiti - woman, daughter, friend, student, singer, writer, Mexican, Salvadoran, American, raccoon lover, ‘The Office’ binge-watcher, and president of the Northern Illinois chapter of the Rob Lowe fan club.
I am reconciling my cultural identity - to feel like I belong to a specific culture or several. Earlier this semester, we learned about cultural diversity in a sociological context. So, for my final project in this Sociology class, I’m going to help us understand what multiculturalism is, why it can be difficult to navigate personally, and how we can embrace our own and others’ multicultural identities.”
Her awareness and appreciation was heightened by her experience in the Vocal Jazz Department.
“[Midnight Voices, the school’s premiere vocal jazz ensemble] covers the cultural spectrum,” she said. “It’s been enjoyable to observe and learn about cultures even from our director, Mr. Evangelista (Filipino). There have been days when he has openly shared words or phrases in Tagalog as well as stories which include amusing impersonations of family members. Overall, it’s been a pleasure to see the musical influences of my classmates whose families also came from other countries.”
For many of us with multicultural backgrounds, when we do attempt to choose or ‘fit in’ within a culture, we’re seen as ‘racial impostors.’ Scientific American calls Impostor Syndrome “a pervasive feeling of self-doubt, insecurity, or fraudulence despite evidence to the contrary.”
After addressing what it means to be multicultural, breaking down the struggles that come with handling multiple cultures at once, and acknowledging how to embrace its valuable teachings, hopefully we’ve acquired information that will not only help us understand others identities, but understand our own as well. In the end, we’re not that different.We’re all human beings who love deeply and have hopes and dreams. Let us allow our cultural differences to unify us.
Laurie Pillen has overseen the speech program for 20 years, working with Valle since her freshman year. This season has been especially fruitful for the team, having won the Lena-Winslow Tournament, taking third at the NIB-12 meet, becoming  Regional Champions for Performance in the Round, and qualifying a dozen for the state finals.
“The excitement was electric as the Rochelle contingent watched as Nephy receive the 2nd medal in her event at the state,” Pillen said.
A teammate remarked, “It’s easy to see who the speaker of the week was for this week!’”
For her Oratorical Declamation performance, Valle finished 12th.
Rochelle’s 11-member Performance in the Round team earned 11th place at the state tournament. Performance in the Round cast and crew included Xavier Arriaga, Eli Ball, Maggie Duval, Candace McMurray, Lauren Ponto, Megan Thiravong, Joe Worthington, Lilly Robertson, Ava Coglianese, Heidi Cruz and Morgan Haas.
Valle will deliver her award-winning original speech at the May 5 Cinco de Mayo Festival in Downtown Rochelle.