First-Gen Performance

At this year’s National Speech tournament, 大四学生迭戈·佩雷斯在四项比赛中晋级预赛，并在全国排名第十. 他是CUI的演讲团队逐渐接近全国地位和统治地位的原因之一，辩论团队在过去五年中一直享有全国第一或第二的地位.

佩雷斯在湾区长大，从那里的一所社区大学转到康考迪亚大学欧文分校. 他在高中时学会了演讲，并在州锦标赛中获得第三名. His coach encouraged him to pursue it in college.

佩雷斯说:“当他说这能帮我支付大学学费时，我就被迷住了。. “我是第一代学生，也是第一代在美国出生的学生.S. Both my parents were born in Mexico. I wanted to continue my education.”

康考迪亚大学欧文分校在佩雷斯大学一年级后就开始招收他, when he won silver in two events. But his own coach at the community college downplayed it.

“He said, ‘Don’t waste your time. Concordia is not even on the map,’” Perez recalls. 他的目标是进入德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校(University of Texas at Austin)，这是一所演讲强国.

At the national tournament during his sophomore year, 那所大学的代表在一次诗歌演讲后把佩雷斯拉到一边说, “You really fit us. We want you to go to our school.” But by that time, Concordia had become an attractive option. In the end, Perez headed to Irvine, not Texas.

但对他的家人来说，即使是这样的距离也很难接受. 佩雷斯的母亲不明白他为什么要去那么远的地方上大学, 或者花那么多时间在演讲和戏剧表演上.

“My mom didn’t want to me leave,” Perez remembers. “我说，‘是的，但康科迪亚给了我一大笔钱，我不会负债太多.’ The day I left was like this crying party. 妈妈在门廊上看着地面，哭着，以为我要永远离开了. I was like, ‘I’ll be back for Thanksgiving.’”

Driving down the coast, Perez wondered if he had made a mistake.

“I thought, ‘I won’t know anyone. I don’t have the money some people do. I’m Latino. What will they think of me? Will they think I’m a thug?’”

The differences between home and school were often jarring.

“在康科迪亚，这是我第一次有自己的房间，”佩雷斯说. “I could decorate it any way I wanted. 我去自助餐厅吃饭的时候，那里就像一家不错的餐厅. I had dinner with the president of Concordia University Irvine, and did all these nice things, 但当我回家时，我仍然和我的弟弟在我奶奶家后面的一个两居室的房子里合住一间卧室.”

As supportive as his parents were, they couldn’t help much with essays, schoolwork or financial aid forms.

“填写FAFSA是如此令人沮丧，以至于我一度崩溃了，”佩雷斯说. “I was thinking, ‘How am I going to do this if nobody helps me?“但我想给我弟弟做个好榜样，让他知道他也能做到。.”

我是第一代学生，也是第一代在美国出生的学生.S. Both my parents were born in Mexico. I wanted to continue my education.

Going home always offered relief, he says.

“School is fast-paced. I’m busy working with academics, speech,” he says. “在家里，我找了一份不错的小工作，保持休闲，和朋友一起出去玩. Sometimes I found it too materialistic (in Southern California).”

Perez credits the speech program for “guiding me through school.他还称赞了自己的“伟大教练”，前全国顶级演讲选手Yaw Kyeremateng.

In spite of doubts about his own abilities, Perez reached the quarterfinals in one big tournament, 在欧文康考迪亚大学的第一年，他又进入了最后一轮.

“I realized I could do it,” he says.

During his second year at Concordia University Irvine, 佩雷斯更加努力地成为他能成为的最好的演说家. 法医主任康拉德•哈克(Konrad Hack)表示，成功的演讲需要职业道德和才能.

“Diego has both,” Hack says. “He would come in and run a piece over and over. 过了一段时间，他再也不会犯错了，因为这是根深蒂固的. It’s clean and it’s perfect. Diego is incredibly personable. He’s got a charisma about him. He knows what he has to do and he goes for it.”

Kyeremateng说:“我不知道球队中是否有人比迭戈成长得更快. 在康科迪亚的经历帮助他个人成长，甚至帮助他在演讲比赛中取得了更大的成功. 他在练习室里不知疲倦地工作，总是缠着我要额外的辅导时间. He’s a really good role model.”

佩雷斯比任何康考迪亚大学欧文分校的演讲学生在全国大赛中都走得更远. At a large spring tournament which draws the nation’s best talent, 佩雷斯在两个项目中都取得了进步，并获得了口译第一名和口译第二名. 这是康考迪亚大学欧文分校第一次进入决赛，或者在那里赢得比赛.

Hack says that unlike debate people, “擅长演讲的人更倾向于表演，而不是证明你是对还是错.“佩雷斯擅长创作吸引眼球、抓住人心的表演作品. 为了参加全国赛，他准备并记住了5个不同的10分钟演讲，每个演讲针对5个项目:信息性演讲, prose interpretation, poetry interpretation, program of oral interpretation and dramatic interpretation.

“全国赛是件大事，”佩雷斯说，他承认自己参加比赛时很紧张. “I didn’t know whether I would finish up to par. There was a lot of stress. A lot of coaches came to watch my performances.”

His goal, he says, was for judges and observers to “be amazed.”

His prose interpretation, about a boy struggling with a disability and social acceptance, made it to quarterfinals. His poetry interpretation, 墨西哥记者因报道卡特尔或政府问题而被杀害, made it to semifinals.

他的口译项目进入决赛，获得第六名. 他的主题直击要害，他认为所谓的“锚婴”——拉丁裔妇女在美国所生的孩子.S.，据称是为了让母亲获得公民身份——更多的是神话而不是现实. Perez played a character whose father was being deported to Mexico, forcing the boy to make a choice to stay in the U.S. or go with his father.

His highest finish, third place in dramatic interpretation, 还有一个令人心碎的场景，一个父亲面对儿子的死亡. 佩雷斯的观点是，“拉美裔人有男子气概，不那么流露情感. We need to make them feel welcome in therapy so they connect more.”

Diego is incredibly personable. He’s got a charisma about him. He knows what he has to do and he goes for it.

Perez ended the year ranked #10 in the nation. 崔的演讲节目从去年的前50名，到去年的前20名，今年的前10名. Next year, Hack says they are aiming for the top 5.

“我们想创建一个项目，而不是去中西部争夺全国冠军, students could do it here,” Hack says. “Based on what Diego did this year, it’s definitely possible.”

For Perez, “Knowing that I advanced in four events is rewarding. I was humbled the whole time I was up there thinking, ‘Finally, I’m up on stage after seeing all these amazing performers up there.’ The lights, crowd, cameras in your face. It was pretty intense. It was great.”

He also appreciates his two years living on campus. 他说:“我适应得很好，交了很多朋友。.

Perez is still amazed that he achieved what he did. “Before this I never thought I was capable,” he says.

What’s next?

“任何与表演和娱乐有关的事情，”他说.