"Rojin's Gavel"

For this next ONE portrait, we have our youngest participant so far - Rojin Farzad and her gavel.  

Here is her story:

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I’m 13 years old, and since quite a young age, I’ve always had a passion for public speaking. I’m not sure why, but I always felt in my in my element when dealing with words.

Due to my love of public speaking, a couple years ago, I started debate. My mom was the one who encouraged me to join, because at the time, I was more interested in robotics. She made a great decision because debate quickly became very important for me.

My meaningful item would be my very first debate award, a gavel. I won this at my very first tournament, where I placed third. I had little to no experience debating, but as soon as began, I felt confident in my debating ability. Since my first tournament, I’ve grown a lot, but even if it’s not a big title, my very first award will always be very dear to me as it signaled a start in a new era of my life.

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