When people ask me what I do at Belmont, and I tell them that I am on the speech and debate team, it is usually followed by looks of confusion. I know what they’re thinking—Belmont has a speech team? —YES, yes we do. I joined BUSTY (Belmont University Speech Team Y’all), after I had Professor Ryan Greenawalt for Comm 1100, and he easily persuaded me to try it out. I knew quickly after meeting the team that joining BUSTY would be one of the best decisions I could make in college. In an old basement in Heron Hall, you can find the loveliest, most hardworking, and exuberant human beings eating Panera bagels and working endlessly to make sure our voices are heard. With the help of Jason Stahl, Ryan Greenawalt, and other amazing alumni, we are challenged daily to debate and speak about issues that are important in today’s society.
As college students, this is the time in our lives that we need to care about what is happening in this world. We are on this team because we know that there is a message that needs to be heard that is much bigger than all of us. Whether that message is about grief, LGBTQ issues, political policies, feminism, sexism, and basically anything that needs to be shouted at the top of our lungs!! I am honored to know and be loved by this team, and I hope that this organization continues to evolve on Belmont’s campus. I wanted to write this article, because there are many people who have never witnessed the power of BUSTY.
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