August 15, 2024 • 28 mins
6:14 - Camp One Clap 2024: Day 14
For notes and details about the episode, check out the website here:
https://www.oneclapspeechanddebate.com/post/camp-one-clap-2-episode-14-josie-house-on-scary-speech-stories-and-college-forensics
Join us at Camp One Clap as we welcome Josie House, a Lander Valley High School alum and current Casper College Forensics team member. Josie takes us on a journey from her early days in high school speech and debate to the more structured and high-stakes environment of college-level competition. Josie’s love for the activity shines through as she recounts her favorite scary campfire stories and shares her unique survival strategy: hiding and surviving in the mountains despite not having combat skills.
Transitioning from high school to college forensics isn't for the faint-hearted, and Josie shares the challenges she faced and the lessons learned along the way. From working closely with coaches to maintaining confidence despite setbacks, Josie’s experience highlights the contrast in professionalism and structure at the collegiate level. Exciting adventures to different campuses and forming bonds with like-minded peers are juxtaposed with the ever-present risk of burnout. Josie paints a vivid picture of what it takes to sustain enthusiasm and excellence in such a demanding field.
If you’d like to join the discussion here at One Clap Speech and Debate, shoot me an email at lylewiley@gmail.com or reach out here on the website.
You could also contact me on social media:
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YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCyvpV56859lLA-X-EvHVYUg
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Lyle Wiley (00:09):
Hey campers.
How's everybody holding up outthere in the clapocalypse?
Hope good.
This lovely day at Camp OneClap shall be graced by the
positive energies of LanderValley High School alum and
current Casper College forensicsteam member, josie House.
Josie's here to chat aboutcollege-level forensics and more
.
I'm your camp director and hostof the One Clap Speech and
(00:29):
Debate podcast, lyle Wiley.
It's my hope that this year'scamp One Clap is providing
inspiration and resources toencourage speech and debate
coaches and competitors tokickstart the best season ever.
Quick reminder check the OneClap socials for today's social
media challenge.
And let me tell you a littlebit about today's guest, josie.
(00:57):
Josie House is a speech anddebate fiend and a real-life
Elle Woods.
She graduated from LanderValley High School and is
currently taking on the collegecircuit as a Casper College
talking T-Bird.
Having tried just about everyevent, josie has settled into
platform and debate with aninterp thrown into the mix for
balance.
She's excited to join the OneClap roster as a camp counselor.
It's time to jump right into myinterview with camp staffer
(01:19):
Josie House.
Welcome to Camp One Clap, tothe Clapocalypse.
I'm here with Josie House,who's going to help us navigate
this terrifying landscape infront of us.
Hi, josie, thanks for beinghere, hi.
Josie House (01:33):
Thank you for having me.
Lyle Wiley (01:35):
I've known Josie for a while as a really fabulous
competitor at Lander and nowshe's competing at Casper
College and, yeah, I'm reallyexcited to talk to you, josie.
Josie House (01:45):
Thanks, for being here.
I'm really excited.
I love talking about speech.
Lyle Wiley (01:47):
It's my favorite thing ever, so Well, awesome, I
love talking about it too andI'm excited to have you here.
So we're dealing with theclapocalypse here, which you
know it's kind of spooky, alittle bit scary.
So I want to hear from youfirst about what your favorite
scary story is.
Hear from you first about whatyour uh, what your, you know
(02:07):
favorite scary story is book,movie, spoken word.
Josie House (02:08):
But what scares you , okay?
So I grew up around like Ireally grew up around campfires
and like campfire stories.
So everything that I loved andthought was spooky was, like you
know, stories about like thewater babies and like all like
this I think it's really popularlike native folklore, um, and
so I heard about like the littlepeople and Bigfoot and like all
this stuff that would be up inthe mountains, and it was always
(02:28):
like it always freaked me outbecause we'd be telling scary
stories in the campfire and thenwe'd like try to go back to our
tent and try to go to sleep andwe're like, nope, it's not
happening because we're like sofreaked out.
So that's always the stuffthat's like scared me the most
is like what's out in themountains.
Lyle Wiley (02:43):
Yeah, there's something about to like telling
those stories in the dark in themiddle of nowhere, you know.
Josie House (02:49):
No, it gets in your head.
You feel like you're so braveand then you're like oh wait,
nope, no, I'm scared, I can't goto sleep.
Lyle Wiley (02:56):
Yeah, I mean for me personally.
I don't think of myself as verybrave.
I'm pretty much scared all thetime.
So it just increases the amountof fear and terror that I feel,
but yeah, Scary situationssometimes, for sure.
So, talking about scary stuff,like like a little role play in
here, let's say there's thislike event, an apocalyptic event
(03:17):
, and we're living in dystopianreality, uh, a post-apocalyptic
wasteland.
So do you think your chances ofsurvival would be pretty good,
Josie, or do you think theywouldn't be?
great On a scale of one to 10,where do you think you are you
going to live?
Josie House (03:31):
So here's the thing I say that I'm super brave and
I feel like maybe I am.
I feel like my tactic would beto like go hide up in the
mountains and so I feel like,you know, I could start a
campfire.
I could start a campfire, Icould maybe whittle something,
so like I could whittle.
But I feel like I just go likehide out in the mountains, just
(03:52):
like build a little cabin andlike try to hide from it all,
but if it came down to likehand-to-hand combat, I'm gone.
I'm gone so quick.
I'm not fast, I'm not agile.
I terrible aim, but you know, Ifeel like if I can avoid it I
might be okay.
I'll just like go start alittle hut place that I can hide
out in.
Lyle Wiley (04:09):
So you have some survival skills, but you don't
feel like you have conflictsurvival skills.
Oh, absolutely not.
Josie House (04:16):
If something starts coming at me, I think I'm just
going to accept defeat.
I don't know, I'm not toohands-on.
Lyle Wiley (04:22):
I understand that I do.
I like your level of confidenceabout maybe being able to hide
out, though.
Yeah.
Josie House (04:29):
I've talked to quite a few people.
Find a cave.
You know something like that.
Lyle Wiley (04:32):
Yeah, no there's places and ways to survive.
Most of the folks I've talkedto on the podcast so far have
very little faith in theirability to survive
post-apocalyptic wasteland, soit sounds like yours is probably
actually pretty decent.
Might put you at a solid sevenor eight, maybe.
Josie House (04:48):
Yeah, maybe it's pretty impressive.
Lyle Wiley (04:50):
It's impressive.
So let's go ahead and shiftgears.
I want to talk to you aboutspeech and debate, and let's
start at the very beginning Foryou.
What got you into speech anddebate?
What's your speech and debateorigin story?
How'd you get started in this?
Oh my gosh.
Josie House (05:05):
So my oldest brother, josh.
He did speech and debate inhigh school and then he also was
a coach for a while at CypressCollege in California.
And so when it came time for meto like enter high school, he
was like Josie, you'reabsolutely crazy, you need to go
do speech.
And I was like I have neverheard of this before.
Okay, and so I went to andfound I had to like hunt down my
(05:27):
program because it was so tiny,and so I like went to this
practice and I didn't reallyhave a lot of like hands on
coaching when I was in highschool.
So it was really it was a mess,but I worked with my brother a
lot and I just kind of there's alot of trial and error.
My first tournament wasliterally six people on my team,
so we were itty bitty.
But I went to my firsttournament and I did poetry and
(05:51):
it was terrible.
It was so bad.
I had no idea what I was doing,but I fell in love with it.
I thought it was so cool and Ithought it was super fun.
I met so many fun people and Iwas hooked and then I just kept
going.
Just, I was a fiend.
I loved it.
Lyle Wiley (06:08):
That's a good way to put it.
Josie House (06:10):
A fiend yeah.
Lyle Wiley (06:11):
So you, uh, in high school you were primarily a were
primarily a interpretive eventperson.
Is that right?
Some platform?
Josie House (06:20):
Literally, I think I did just about everything.
I think maybe the only eventsthat I haven't touched.
I know I didn't do extemp and Ididn't do Congress, but I did
debate every year.
I always got the debate fever.
So I'd always be like, oh, I'mgoing to be a debater.
And then I'd go do a coupletournaments and I was like,
nevermind, I don't want to be adebater.
(06:40):
Um, I did consistently dointerps all the time and then I
found um platform in my junioryear and that's when it kind of
really took off for me.
Um and I really like figuredout that platform was kind of
something I was good at.
So yeah, I did, but I did justabout everything.
I loved trying new events.
Lyle Wiley (06:54):
So yeah, and so you were and you were kind of part
of the Lander resurgence tooright Like the team rebuilding
and kind of getting finding somesuccess.
Josie House (07:03):
Yeah, I did a lot of recruiting in my school.
I would always like we like hadwe had like a high school like
orientation for our freshmen,but the speech and debate team,
for some reason, had never had atable.
So I bugged my coach and waslike, hey, we need to go do,
like do a table.
And so, yeah, I like did a lotof recruiting.
I actually lost um like mycoach quit and then I had to
like get new coaches.
(07:23):
So I bugged my principal a lotto make sure that I would get a
senior season.
And then, like, yeah, I satdown and helped like do our
tournament schedule.
I like started an Instagram andlike.
So by the time I left, I heardthat this last year, the people
that I kind of passed everythingdown to I heard that we had
about a team of like 20.
So that was really exciting tohear that we had gone from like
(07:44):
6 to like 20.
So that was really cool.
I've loved seeing it grow.
We actually my biggestaccomplishment in life is that
my team was able to win statefor 3A my sophomore year.
That was so exciting.
So, yeah, it was one of thecoolest things ever to kind of
go from just this tiny team thatnobody really knew, to kind of
try to make it something.
Lyle Wiley (08:04):
That is really exciting.
It's a cool feeling.
Building a team is likebuilding a legacy.
It's really great.
Josie House (08:09):
It was so fun.
Lyle Wiley (08:11):
Yeah, and so you've done.
You did a lot of differentevents at Lander, and then
you're competing with Caspercollege now.
So what?
What did your?
What are your like?
What's your favorite event, youthink?
Josie House (08:22):
Oh my gosh, that is such a hard question to answer.
I think about it a lot honestly, just in my free time.
I'm like what do I like thebest?
Um, I would say that I think,as far as high school and
college goes, I think I have tosay duo is my favorite.
I've always loved getting towork with a partner and I love
the idea of like acting wise,getting to like bounce off
another person, like when you'rein a scene, and I also think
(08:45):
that like some of the blockingthat you get to do in duo is
just like super cool.
So I've always loved puttingduos together and like, um,
working with somebody.
I've always thought that thatwas fun.
Lyle Wiley (08:54):
Yeah, I working with somebody.
I've always thought that thatwas fun.
Yeah, I love watching duos.
They're very dynamic, a lot ofenergy, a lot of times and just
a lot of creative things you cando with two people as opposed
to one.
Josie House (09:04):
I'm never bored in a duo round.
I will always seek them out.
I love them so much.
They're so fun.
Lyle Wiley (09:09):
What is it?
What's college levelcompetition like?
How is it different from highschool?
How is it kind of similar?
What have you really likedabout it?
Josie House (09:17):
Oh, my goodness, this last season learning the
college circuit was very much alearning experience, but it was
so fun.
They're very different in quitea few ways, but they're also
kind of similar.
One of the most exciting thingsthat I learned when I started
the season in college was thatevery single like interp that we
have gets a book.
(09:37):
So even our duo we have twobooks and then, like drama has
books.
I think that was really fun andI was like really nervous about
it at first because I was like,oh my gosh, how do I do duo and
then like interact with mypartner and also hold a book.
But actually you can do like somany cool things with it.
And I remember at ourIRO Pi, mywhole team went and watched the
semifinals round for duo andthere was this one duo in there.
(10:00):
I don't even remember wherethey're from, but they had just
the most amazing blocking thatI'd ever seen.
It was so cool.
But I think, like broad level, Ithink that the college circuit
is a little bit more like kindof like intense in some ways,
like it's a lot more likeprofessional.
I mean there's a big differencethat we have, like these, older
adults as opposed to, like youknow, freshmen and sophomores in
(10:23):
high school, so we have a lotmore like um, kind of like
strictness.
It's very like a moreprofessional setting.
You're kind of quiet and likeyou walk with like lots of grace
and you're not really likerunning amok or running around.
I remember like I went to likea couple college tournaments and
then I went back to a highschool tournament.
You know people are napping onthe floor and running around and
(10:43):
like it's just very differentin that sense.
But they're still like youstill get to meet so many
amazing people and like do allof this fun stuff and I love
getting to interact with likeother teams and other coaches,
so so it's really fun.
But they're definitely a littledifferent.
We go in very prepared for everytournament and so I remember
like there are definitely timesin high school where I was like,
(11:04):
oh, I'm going to like throwthis duo together very last
minute or I'm going to do thisthis weekend, and that is just
not the case.
Everything is very structuredand, yeah, we definitely have a
lot of like purpose when we gointo around.
We're not just like, oh, I'mgoing to try this for fun.
It's very much like this is theevent I've practiced.
This is the event I've beencoached on.
This is what I'm going to bedoing for my team, so it but it
(11:25):
is like, not at all Is it less,any less fun.
It is so fun.
I love getting to travel andsee different campuses.
I've gotten to go see a lot ofdifferent colleges.
I love getting to meet newpeople that have been doing it
for as long as I have.
That's really fun.
So, yeah, it's really cool.
Lyle Wiley (11:39):
Yeah, like intentionality or something
Still fun, but just reallyintentional.
Josie House (11:44):
Yes.
Lyle Wiley (11:45):
Are you thinking you might try to do more
competition at the college levelafter this year, or what are
you thinking?
Josie House (11:51):
I honestly am not really sure.
I don't.
This is, I'll be a sophomorethis year, so I'll be graduating
, hopefully in the spring withmy associates, and so I'm not
entirely sure where I'm going togo after that.
Part of me is thinking I mightstay in Casper, but I'm not sure
.
If I do have the opportunity tokeep doing speech, I might, you
definitely, talk to a lot ofpeople who are in their second
(12:13):
year at college and they're kindof like man, I'm starting to
get burnt out, like I not don'thave as many ideas as I used to
have or stuff like that, and Idefinitely do think that that
can be the case.
So I'll kind of just have tosee how this year goes.
But I don't really see myselfgetting tired of speech anytime
soon.
I'm just I love it so much so Ithink I could do it for a while
still.
Lyle Wiley (12:33):
That's exciting.
Um let's talk about some thingsthat you maybe learned about
yourself or the activity thisseason that were unique to this
year.
Josie House (12:41):
Oh my goodness.
Um, like I said, I think it wasreally interesting because I
didn't really come from aprogram in high school that was
like super strict or like had alot of structure, and so, going
into Casper college, I foundmyself really having to learn
how to like work with coachesand work with like a more like
professional setting, and thatwas really interesting to me,
(13:04):
especially because I kind oftended to be in charge of things
in high school and now I wasn'tin charge of anything like my
senior season.
I kind of got to pick thetournaments that we went to and
like I was kind of helping likerun behind the scenes.
So going into college, I waslike I was kind of helping, like
run behind the scenes.
So going into college, I waslike having these meetings and
(13:24):
having these very like solidexpectations set upon me, and so
it was really nerve wrackingbecause I was really scared that
like I wasn't going to, likeyou know, live up to like this
legacy of what Casper Collegehad.
It was a lot of learning to bebrave, learning to fake it till
you make it, and really changingyour mindset about how you
enter rounds, Because if you goin with like this scared mindset
(13:44):
you're probably not going to doas well and like it's really a
lot about.
For me it was a lot aboutlearning how to like take
critique and just take it oneround at a time instead of
thinking like so big picture,because it just freaks me out.
So it's really like taking itone round at a time, going in
with confidence and trustingthat like I know what I'm doing
and I've done well before andlike I can do well again, kind
(14:06):
of thing.
Lyle Wiley (14:07):
Yeah, and you, uh, you, you've been doing quite a
bit of debate right Like atCasper college which is like not
, I mean, we talked about thatyou.
You did debate at the highschool level, but then you were
always kind of like I don't knowif this is really for me, but
you're, you're doing that on theregular for Casper College.
Have you enjoyed that?
Have you enjoyed doing?
Josie House (14:26):
the debate.
Oh, this is such a funny thingto talk about.
So we went to a tournament, ourfirst tournament of the year in
college, and one unique thingabout the way that we do debate
is it's like extemp debate.
So we get 30 minutes to prepand then we go in.
And so one thing that our teamdoes is we try to help each
other prep, because sometimesit's really easy to like get
(14:46):
really overwhelmed, and sosometimes they would have they
are debaters would say like, hey, guys, we need some people with
us to just like Google thingsfor us, just like help us find
evidence, help us find articles.
And so I was like, ok, I can dothat.
And so I go up there with mycomputer and I'm like this is
fun, I like helping.
And so I like helped prep andlike some people were like wow,
(15:07):
josie, you are really helpful,like thank you.
And I was like wait, should Ibe a debater?
And so then I told my coaches Iwas like, hey, maybe I want to
do debate because I didn't haveall my events up yet anyways.
So I was like, yeah, let'sswitch out poetry for debate,
why not?
And then I went to my firsttournament and did debate and I
kind of like I feel like Ifumbled my way through it, but I
did end up like getting likethird or something.
And so they were like, okay,well, now you're going to be a
(15:28):
debater.
And I was like, oh, okay, gotit.
So I kept debating because I,you know, I kind of found
success that one tournament, andI was really surprised that it
was actually something that Iapparently can do kind of well.
Um, I would get like speakerawards.
So I was like Whoa, like that'skind of cool.
Um, but if you ask anybody onmy team, I spend most of my time
(15:52):
stressing about debate.
I'm always, every time debateday rolls around, I'm oh, no,
it's debate day.
I'm so stressed.
But when I go into tournamentand when I go into each round,
I'm like, oh, this is so fun, Ilove it.
So it's.
I have a really complicatedrelationship with debate, but I
do like it, but I just, I don'tknow, it's just complicated,
it's a very like.
It's a really big joke on myteam, because I spend all of my
(16:13):
time like, oh, debate, and thenI go in and I'm like this is so
fun.
So it's confusing.
Lyle Wiley (16:19):
A little bit of a love-hate relationship.
Josie House (16:21):
Yeah absolutely.
Lyle Wiley (16:22):
Maybe borderline toxic Hopefully not.
Josie House (16:26):
I really do like it .
I think it's really fun, but Ijust I don't know something
about it.
I'm just like oh, again.
Lyle Wiley (16:32):
Yeah, I mean, I do think.
I mean it just takes a littlebit of time to get used to the
pressure that comes with debate,I think is part of it, and I
think also the big thing for meis that like well, just like in
high school, you do more prelimrounds in debate than you do for
your speech rounds.
Josie House (16:47):
So at Firehole Pi I was doing like I would do each
of my like interp events likethree times, but then I was
doing like six prelim rounds fordebate.
And when you do it, and thenalso in high or in college, we
do like one day of debate mostof the time.
So it's like one day is alldebate, the next day is like
everything else, and so when youdo like six rounds back after
back after back, it's likeexhausting.
(17:08):
That was something I did notlike.
Prepare for my first tournament.
I found out that I was going todo a mall in one day and I was
like, whoa, I'm going to dodebate six times.
No break, you kidding me.
But you know you get through it.
You get tired, you drink energydrinks, like we all do, and
then you survive.
Lyle Wiley (17:26):
Yeah, it is kind of an endurance test, though it's
true.
Josie House (17:28):
It's true, absolutely, it's a lot yeah.
Lyle Wiley (17:31):
Well, I mean, you know me, I'm a fan of debate, so
you know, welcome to the darkside, and I think that that's, I
think I'm sure you're doing areally good job.
Thank you, I do think it's timefor our ghostly interlude.
And some spooky noises.
Yeah, I've been asking folks ifthey believe in ghosts and the
paranormal, just to kind of seewhat they think what do you?
(17:55):
What do you think?
Are you a believer?
Josie House (17:57):
here's my thing.
Um, I want to say no.
I want to be like no, I don'tbelieve in ghosts, you know,
like that's whatever.
However, um, I would nevertouch a ouija board and I would
rather die than go into anabandoned building.
So, so, while I'm like no, Idon't really think so, I'm also
like I'm kind of scared to saythat, because what if they hear
me, like if they are out there?
What if they like come and getme?
(18:18):
So I don't really know.
It's kind of an interestingthing because I remember like,
growing up, like my dad would belike you know, like, don't be
afraid of ghosts, becausethey're probably just sitting in
a building.
Like what are they doing?
They're just sitting in abuilding like playing cards,
waiting for somebody to come in,and then what do they do?
Turn on and off the lights andslam doors, come on, come on.
And I was like you know what,when you put it like that,
(18:39):
that's like, yeah, I'm notafraid of ghosts, but then I'm
also like I would.
I would rather die than touch aouija board.
Lyle Wiley (18:45):
So you know I'm so it's a complicated thing so you
think there's probably somethingout there, but you'd rather
just leave it alone.
You don't really want to know.
Josie House (18:55):
Yeah, I'm like, probably not, but just in case
there is, I'm going to berespectful, all right, just to
save myself.
Lyle Wiley (19:03):
That's a pretty smart response, probably.
So back to some speech anddebate stuff, although it's kind
of uh, you know, it's sort ofconnected.
We're going to be talking aboutovercoming fears and obstacles
at camp with a bunch of folksthis year, and so I was curious
if you had some stories aboutyou know spooky obstacles or
scary times in speech that youuh that you had that then helped
(19:27):
you learn or grow or had someimpact on you do.
Do you have anything cool?
Josie House (19:32):
I think something that I learned this season the
most was that you really have tolike.
One of the things that I lovedabout college was that I got to
be on a team with all of theseamazing people from around the
state.
However, with that, there was alot of fear, because it is
really hard to be on a team withpeople where especially like
(19:53):
when you don't have like themost confidence it's really hard
to be on a team with all thesepeople that you know are just so
amazing, because there's a lotof pressure there, especially
when you're on a team that isknown to like do really well.
There's just a lot of pressurethere, lot of pressure there,
(20:13):
and so one thing that I reallyhad to figure out was like and
it kind of goes back to what Iwas talking about earlier it's
just like not psyching yourselfout.
One of the scariest things thatI've had to do was like compete
against some of my ownteammates and be like, oh my
gosh, like this is like scary,but it's also really cool to
know that some of the bestcompetition is on your own team
and that's really awesome.
Like we had a couple times whereour duo rounds four out of six
(20:34):
of us were from Casper Collegeand that was really cool.
But it's also like kind of scarybecause you're going against
like some of your best friendsand like trying to duke it out
in round and, yeah, it can bereally intimidating.
But I think really justlearning to take things one
round at a time that was one ofthe best pieces of advice that I
was given is that you knoweveryone is capable of making
(20:55):
mistakes, whether or not youhave the most phenomenal track
record or you're brand new.
Like everyone is capable ofgoing into a round and biffing
it and so like we are all likeone thing we said a lot is like
we are all just people.
And so really going in andlearning to take it one round at
a time because that's reallythe only thing you can control
is the next round.
So I think that was one of thebest things that I had to kind
(21:17):
of work through.
But it was also one of the mostscary things that I had to like
be a part of was, you know,competing against your own
teammates and feeling scared.
But it's worth like workingthrough.
Lyle Wiley (21:28):
Yeah, it is kind of a powerhouse group at the casper
college a lot of reallytalented people there um so you
look at our roster you're likewhoa, that's crazy.
Yeah, it's cool to be a part ofa team like that, but yeah, it's
so fun I'm sure that there's alittle bit of pressure and yeah
it's, yeah, it's got to beawkward to compete against each
other too, I know.
Yeah, really weird, but yeah,well, um, I am curious what,
(21:55):
what's next for you?
Like, we talked about this alittle bit, the possibility of
maybe going into the speechafter this year, but uh, yeah,
what's the what's the plan?
Like, what are you studyingright now?
What's your longterm plan?
Josie House (22:08):
Um, so my freshman year I changed my major like
four times.
Anyone who tells you that youcan go in and stick to one thing
?
Probably not true, because Imean maybe some people do.
But I changed my major a lot.
Right now I am in the pre-OTprogram here, so I'm hoping to
graduate with my associates foroccupational therapy, like my
(22:29):
pre, to get into the program,and then we have like a joint
program with the University ofNorth Dakota, so I'm kind of
hoping to get in there, whichwould mean that I would stay in
Casper and then I can work allthe way up to my master's so
that I can start like practicingoccupational therapy.
But I'm also like I'm kind ofjust taking it by what happens.
I'm going to look into someother schools.
(22:50):
I considered Northern ArizonaUniversity when I was first
looking at colleges so I mightpop back over there and see
what's up, but I'm not entirelysure.
I do definitely want to kind oflook at colleges that have
speech programs, just because itis really helpful, like not
only financially if you can geta scholarship, but also I just
it's a really it's been a safething for me, the one reason
(23:13):
that I did decide to do CasperCollege and I did decide to keep
doing speech was because I knewthat, like when you transition
into college, life it's a lot,but having something that you're
kind of familiar with is areally good way to kind of get
through it.
And so it was really nicebecause I moved into college and
then I automatically had likeall of these people that I
already knew and like I hadfriends and I was able to do
(23:36):
something that I know, that Ilove and that I know that would
like keep me motivated, and soit was a really good.
Um, it's been really good tolike do college and also do
speech.
It's just been really helpfulfor me.
So I would like to kind of keepdoing that because it just is
really fun.
Lyle Wiley (23:52):
Yeah, totally, totally understand that.
Are you involved in coaching atall?
Have you been helping out withany programs or anything?
Josie House (23:58):
I do help out with Lander.
I'm also just available ifpeople ever need anything.
I'm always willing to help out,debate, speech, whatever.
Lyle Wiley (24:08):
So I'm always just kind of around.
You've done some judging forthe community too.
I have whatever, so I'm alwaysjust kind of around I have.
Yes, I do love to judge.
Josie House (24:13):
I love judging.
A lot of people like don't likeit, but I love it.
I think it's so fun.
I love going back and gettingto see like some of my best
friends that are still in highschool and but also just like I
love watching rounds.
I love being able to givefeedback and say like hey, like
this could be like reallydynamic if we do this.
Like I just love going in andjudging and being around the
(24:34):
people that I've always reallyenjoyed, so I like it.
Lyle Wiley (24:39):
So just kind of a big picture question what do you
love most about speech anddebate in general?
I think you've covered a lot ofthis already, probably.
Oh, my goodness, what's yourfavorite?
Such a?
Josie House (24:46):
hard question.
Um, I think the thing that Ialways tell people is that I
love an activity that encouragesyou to not only speak up but to
also listen.
I think I've learned a lot aboutthe world and about life just
by listening to other people andtheir stories and what they've
gone through, and so I thinkthat's like absolutely my
(25:08):
favorite thing about speech isthat I love an activity that
takes all of these young peopleand actually kind of puts the
world in our hands and says howwould you tackle this issue?
What do you think is wrong?
And I think that that's reallyimportant and it's really like I
love the purpose.
There is no other activity thatyou can be a part of that is so
important for you and forothers and for our future than
(25:32):
speech and debate.
Like it is just a phenomenalthing to be a part of and it's
important.
I love being able to walk awayfrom an activity and say that
like I learned something aboutmyself, I maybe taught somebody
else something, and like I had agood impact on my community and
on people around me.
I think that that's really justunique to speech.
(25:53):
It's a good answer.
Lyle Wiley (25:54):
Josie Thanks.
This last question.
It's probably sort ofsemi-connected, I suppose, but I
have been kind of closing outinterviews at the Clapocalypse
by asking folks about why speechand debate is worth the terror
you hear often about.
You know like there's thatstudy that's cited all the time
(26:14):
about people being more likeless afraid of dying than public
speaking kind of thing, youknow, so uh if, if it's such a
huge fear for people like, whyis participating in speech and
debate kind of worth it?
What do you think?
Josie House (26:28):
oh my goodness, I always think it's so funny when
I tell people I do speech andthey're like, wow, I would
rather, like I'd rather die thanyou know, talk in front of
people.
And I totally get that.
I definitely remember like someof my first rounds I was like,
wait, I'm supposed to like dothis in front of people.
That's, that's weird.
Um, but I definitely think thatit's worth it.
(26:49):
One, because, girl, you shineso much more when you have to do
class presentations, whenyou're able to get it up there
and just kind of razzle, dazzleyour professors.
They eat it up, they love it.
Um.
But also I think that it's justworth kind of getting through
that fear, because I think it'sit makes you a little bit more
able to like I don't know.
I want to say it almost makesyou safer because you're able to
(27:11):
like be confident.
It gives you like confidenceand so then, if it ever does
come to like a situation whereyou need to like stand up for
yourself, I think you're moreable to do that because you, you
know you're able to like speakcoherently and intelligently.
So I do think it's reallyimportant that you get through
the fear of public speakingbecause you're able to just
connect better with people butalso stand up for yourself a
(27:33):
little bit easier if you need to.
So I don't know.
I think it's really awesome andjust like the community that
you get along with.
Speech is so, so cool and thefriends, but mostly the
confidence that you gain is likesomething that's just so useful
in all of the other areas oflife.
Lyle Wiley (27:48):
I really appreciate you coming and getting on the
podcast.
It's been really great to talkto you and like maybe we could
chat again in the future.
It'd be really cool.
Josie House (27:56):
Absolutely.
I'm always down.
I am a chronic yapper.
I will talk about speechwhenever.
Lyle Wiley (28:01):
Thank you so much to Josie for her awesome interview
.
I'm excited to have her back onthe show in the future.
So what's going on in theclapocalypse?
Tomorrow, camp one clapcounselor from last year, alexis
worthing, is back to chat aboutmodel un and a whole bunch of
things about the horror genre,so you'll want to be there for
that.
Remember to check the socialmedia challenges on our socials
(28:22):
and we'll see you tomorrow.
Campers, by the way, take iteasy on zombies.
They're depressed, you know,because they feel dead inside.
For For Camp One Clap, this isCamp Director Wiley signing off.
Hey campers.
How's everybody holding up outthere in the clapocalypse?
Hope good.
This lovely day at Camp OneClap shall be graced by the
positive energies of LanderValley High School alum and
current Casper College forensicsteam member, josie House.
Josie's here to chat aboutcollege-level forensics and more
.
I'm your camp director and hostof the One Clap Speech and
(00:29):
Debate podcast, lyle Wiley.
It's my hope that this year'scamp One Clap is providing
inspiration and resources toencourage speech and debate
coaches and competitors tokickstart the best season ever.
Quick reminder check the OneClap socials for today's social
media challenge.
And let me tell you a littlebit about today's guest, josie.
(00:57):
Josie House is a speech anddebate fiend and a real-life
Elle Woods.
She graduated from LanderValley High School and is
currently taking on the collegecircuit as a Casper College
talking T-Bird.
Having tried just about everyevent, josie has settled into
platform and debate with aninterp thrown into the mix for
balance.
She's excited to join the OneClap roster as a camp counselor.
It's time to jump right into myinterview with camp staffer
(01:19):
Josie House.
Welcome to Camp One Clap, tothe Clapocalypse.
I'm here with Josie House,who's going to help us navigate
this terrifying landscape infront of us.
Hi, josie, thanks for beinghere, hi.
Josie House (01:33):
Thank you for having me.
Lyle Wiley (01:35):
I've known Josie for a while as a really fabulous
competitor at Lander and nowshe's competing at Casper
College and, yeah, I'm reallyexcited to talk to you, josie.
Josie House (01:45):
Thanks, for being here.
I'm really excited.
I love talking about speech.
Lyle Wiley (01:47):
It's my favorite thing ever, so Well, awesome, I
love talking about it too andI'm excited to have you here.
So we're dealing with theclapocalypse here, which you
know it's kind of spooky, alittle bit scary.
So I want to hear from youfirst about what your favorite
scary story is.
Hear from you first about whatyour uh, what your, you know
(02:07):
favorite scary story is book,movie, spoken word.
Josie House (02:08):
But what scares you , okay?
So I grew up around like Ireally grew up around campfires
and like campfire stories.
So everything that I loved andthought was spooky was, like you
know, stories about like thewater babies and like all like
this I think it's really popularlike native folklore, um, and
so I heard about like the littlepeople and Bigfoot and like all
this stuff that would be up inthe mountains, and it was always
(02:28):
like it always freaked me outbecause we'd be telling scary
stories in the campfire and thenwe'd like try to go back to our
tent and try to go to sleep andwe're like, nope, it's not
happening because we're like sofreaked out.
So that's always the stuffthat's like scared me the most
is like what's out in themountains.
Lyle Wiley (02:43):
Yeah, there's something about to like telling
those stories in the dark in themiddle of nowhere, you know.
Josie House (02:49):
No, it gets in your head.
You feel like you're so braveand then you're like oh wait,
nope, no, I'm scared, I can't goto sleep.
Lyle Wiley (02:56):
Yeah, I mean for me personally.
I don't think of myself as verybrave.
I'm pretty much scared all thetime.
So it just increases the amountof fear and terror that I feel,
but yeah, Scary situationssometimes, for sure.
So, talking about scary stuff,like like a little role play in
here, let's say there's thislike event, an apocalyptic event
(03:17):
, and we're living in dystopianreality, uh, a post-apocalyptic
wasteland.
So do you think your chances ofsurvival would be pretty good,
Josie, or do you think theywouldn't be?
great On a scale of one to 10,where do you think you are you
going to live?
Josie House (03:31):
So here's the thing I say that I'm super brave and
I feel like maybe I am.
I feel like my tactic would beto like go hide up in the
mountains and so I feel like,you know, I could start a
campfire.
I could start a campfire, Icould maybe whittle something,
so like I could whittle.
But I feel like I just go likehide out in the mountains, just
(03:52):
like build a little cabin andlike try to hide from it all,
but if it came down to likehand-to-hand combat, I'm gone.
I'm gone so quick.
I'm not fast, I'm not agile.
I terrible aim, but you know, Ifeel like if I can avoid it I
might be okay.
I'll just like go start alittle hut place that I can hide
out in.
Lyle Wiley (04:09):
So you have some survival skills, but you don't
feel like you have conflictsurvival skills.
Oh, absolutely not.
Josie House (04:16):
If something starts coming at me, I think I'm just
going to accept defeat.
I don't know, I'm not toohands-on.
Lyle Wiley (04:22):
I understand that I do.
I like your level of confidenceabout maybe being able to hide
out, though.
Yeah.
Josie House (04:29):
I've talked to quite a few people.
Find a cave.
You know something like that.
Lyle Wiley (04:32):
Yeah, no there's places and ways to survive.
Most of the folks I've talkedto on the podcast so far have
very little faith in theirability to survive
post-apocalyptic wasteland, soit sounds like yours is probably
actually pretty decent.
Might put you at a solid sevenor eight, maybe.
Josie House (04:48):
Yeah, maybe it's pretty impressive.
Lyle Wiley (04:50):
It's impressive.
So let's go ahead and shiftgears.
I want to talk to you aboutspeech and debate, and let's
start at the very beginning Foryou.
What got you into speech anddebate?
What's your speech and debateorigin story?
How'd you get started in this?
Oh my gosh.
Josie House (05:05):
So my oldest brother, josh.
He did speech and debate inhigh school and then he also was
a coach for a while at CypressCollege in California.
And so when it came time for meto like enter high school, he
was like Josie, you'reabsolutely crazy, you need to go
do speech.
And I was like I have neverheard of this before.
Okay, and so I went to andfound I had to like hunt down my
(05:27):
program because it was so tiny,and so I like went to this
practice and I didn't reallyhave a lot of like hands on
coaching when I was in highschool.
So it was really it was a mess,but I worked with my brother a
lot and I just kind of there's alot of trial and error.
My first tournament wasliterally six people on my team,
so we were itty bitty.
But I went to my firsttournament and I did poetry and
(05:51):
it was terrible.
It was so bad.
I had no idea what I was doing,but I fell in love with it.
I thought it was so cool and Ithought it was super fun.
I met so many fun people and Iwas hooked and then I just kept
going.
Just, I was a fiend.
I loved it.
Lyle Wiley (06:08):
That's a good way to put it.
Josie House (06:10):
A fiend yeah.
Lyle Wiley (06:11):
So you, uh, in high school you were primarily a were
primarily a interpretive eventperson.
Is that right?
Some platform?
Josie House (06:20):
Literally, I think I did just about everything.
I think maybe the only eventsthat I haven't touched.
I know I didn't do extemp and Ididn't do Congress, but I did
debate every year.
I always got the debate fever.
So I'd always be like, oh, I'mgoing to be a debater.
And then I'd go do a coupletournaments and I was like,
nevermind, I don't want to be adebater.
(06:40):
Um, I did consistently dointerps all the time and then I
found um platform in my junioryear and that's when it kind of
really took off for me.
Um and I really like figuredout that platform was kind of
something I was good at.
So yeah, I did, but I did justabout everything.
I loved trying new events.
Lyle Wiley (06:54):
So yeah, and so you were and you were kind of part
of the Lander resurgence tooright Like the team rebuilding
and kind of getting finding somesuccess.
Josie House (07:03):
Yeah, I did a lot of recruiting in my school.
I would always like we like hadwe had like a high school like
orientation for our freshmen,but the speech and debate team,
for some reason, had never had atable.
So I bugged my coach and waslike, hey, we need to go do,
like do a table.
And so, yeah, I like did a lotof recruiting.
I actually lost um like mycoach quit and then I had to
like get new coaches.
(07:23):
So I bugged my principal a lotto make sure that I would get a
senior season.
And then, like, yeah, I satdown and helped like do our
tournament schedule.
I like started an Instagram andlike.
So by the time I left, I heardthat this last year, the people
that I kind of passed everythingdown to I heard that we had
about a team of like 20.
So that was really exciting tohear that we had gone from like
(07:44):
6 to like 20.
So that was really cool.
I've loved seeing it grow.
We actually my biggestaccomplishment in life is that
my team was able to win statefor 3A my sophomore year.
That was so exciting.
So, yeah, it was one of thecoolest things ever to kind of
go from just this tiny team thatnobody really knew, to kind of
try to make it something.
Lyle Wiley (08:04):
That is really exciting.
It's a cool feeling.
Building a team is likebuilding a legacy.
It's really great.
Josie House (08:09):
It was so fun.
Lyle Wiley (08:11):
Yeah, and so you've done.
You did a lot of differentevents at Lander, and then
you're competing with Caspercollege now.
So what?
What did your?
What are your like?
What's your favorite event, youthink?
Josie House (08:22):
Oh my gosh, that is such a hard question to answer.
I think about it a lot honestly, just in my free time.
I'm like what do I like thebest?
Um, I would say that I think,as far as high school and
college goes, I think I have tosay duo is my favorite.
I've always loved getting towork with a partner and I love
the idea of like acting wise,getting to like bounce off
another person, like when you'rein a scene, and I also think
(08:45):
that like some of the blockingthat you get to do in duo is
just like super cool.
So I've always loved puttingduos together and like, um,
working with somebody.
I've always thought that thatwas fun.
Lyle Wiley (08:54):
Yeah, I working with somebody.
I've always thought that thatwas fun.
Yeah, I love watching duos.
They're very dynamic, a lot ofenergy, a lot of times and just
a lot of creative things you cando with two people as opposed
to one.
Josie House (09:04):
I'm never bored in a duo round.
I will always seek them out.
I love them so much.
They're so fun.
Lyle Wiley (09:09):
What is it?
What's college levelcompetition like?
How is it different from highschool?
How is it kind of similar?
What have you really likedabout it?
Josie House (09:17):
Oh, my goodness, this last season learning the
college circuit was very much alearning experience, but it was
so fun.
They're very different in quitea few ways, but they're also
kind of similar.
One of the most exciting thingsthat I learned when I started
the season in college was thatevery single like interp that we
have gets a book.
(09:37):
So even our duo we have twobooks and then, like drama has
books.
I think that was really fun andI was like really nervous about
it at first because I was like,oh my gosh, how do I do duo and
then like interact with mypartner and also hold a book.
But actually you can do like somany cool things with it.
And I remember at ourIRO Pi, mywhole team went and watched the
semifinals round for duo andthere was this one duo in there.
(10:00):
I don't even remember wherethey're from, but they had just
the most amazing blocking thatI'd ever seen.
It was so cool.
But I think, like broad level, Ithink that the college circuit
is a little bit more like kindof like intense in some ways,
like it's a lot more likeprofessional.
I mean there's a big differencethat we have, like these, older
adults as opposed to, like youknow, freshmen and sophomores in
(10:23):
high school, so we have a lotmore like um, kind of like
strictness.
It's very like a moreprofessional setting.
You're kind of quiet and likeyou walk with like lots of grace
and you're not really likerunning amok or running around.
I remember like I went to likea couple college tournaments and
then I went back to a highschool tournament.
You know people are napping onthe floor and running around and
(10:43):
like it's just very differentin that sense.
But they're still like youstill get to meet so many
amazing people and like do allof this fun stuff and I love
getting to interact with likeother teams and other coaches,
so so it's really fun.
But they're definitely a littledifferent.
We go in very prepared for everytournament and so I remember
like there are definitely timesin high school where I was like,
(11:04):
oh, I'm going to like throwthis duo together very last
minute or I'm going to do thisthis weekend, and that is just
not the case.
Everything is very structuredand, yeah, we definitely have a
lot of like purpose when we gointo around.
We're not just like, oh, I'mgoing to try this for fun.
It's very much like this is theevent I've practiced.
This is the event I've beencoached on.
This is what I'm going to bedoing for my team, so it but it
(11:25):
is like, not at all Is it less,any less fun.
It is so fun.
I love getting to travel andsee different campuses.
I've gotten to go see a lot ofdifferent colleges.
I love getting to meet newpeople that have been doing it
for as long as I have.
That's really fun.
So, yeah, it's really cool.
Lyle Wiley (11:39):
Yeah, like intentionality or something
Still fun, but just reallyintentional.
Josie House (11:44):
Yes.
Lyle Wiley (11:45):
Are you thinking you might try to do more
competition at the college levelafter this year, or what are
you thinking?
Josie House (11:51):
I honestly am not really sure.
I don't.
This is, I'll be a sophomorethis year, so I'll be graduating
, hopefully in the spring withmy associates, and so I'm not
entirely sure where I'm going togo after that.
Part of me is thinking I mightstay in Casper, but I'm not sure
.
If I do have the opportunity tokeep doing speech, I might, you
definitely, talk to a lot ofpeople who are in their second
(12:13):
year at college and they're kindof like man, I'm starting to
get burnt out, like I not don'thave as many ideas as I used to
have or stuff like that, and Idefinitely do think that that
can be the case.
So I'll kind of just have tosee how this year goes.
But I don't really see myselfgetting tired of speech anytime
soon.
I'm just I love it so much so Ithink I could do it for a while
still.
Lyle Wiley (12:33):
That's exciting.
Um let's talk about some thingsthat you maybe learned about
yourself or the activity thisseason that were unique to this
year.
Josie House (12:41):
Oh my goodness.
Um, like I said, I think it wasreally interesting because I
didn't really come from aprogram in high school that was
like super strict or like had alot of structure, and so, going
into Casper college, I foundmyself really having to learn
how to like work with coachesand work with like a more like
professional setting, and thatwas really interesting to me,
(13:04):
especially because I kind oftended to be in charge of things
in high school and now I wasn'tin charge of anything like my
senior season.
I kind of got to pick thetournaments that we went to and
like I was kind of helping likerun behind the scenes.
So going into college, I waslike I was kind of helping, like
run behind the scenes.
So going into college, I waslike having these meetings and
(13:24):
having these very like solidexpectations set upon me, and so
it was really nerve wrackingbecause I was really scared that
like I wasn't going to, likeyou know, live up to like this
legacy of what Casper Collegehad.
It was a lot of learning to bebrave, learning to fake it till
you make it, and really changingyour mindset about how you
enter rounds, Because if you goin with like this scared mindset
(13:44):
you're probably not going to doas well and like it's really a
lot about.
For me it was a lot aboutlearning how to like take
critique and just take it oneround at a time instead of
thinking like so big picture,because it just freaks me out.
So it's really like taking itone round at a time, going in
with confidence and trustingthat like I know what I'm doing
and I've done well before andlike I can do well again, kind
(14:06):
of thing.
Lyle Wiley (14:07):
Yeah, and you, uh, you, you've been doing quite a
bit of debate right Like atCasper college which is like not
, I mean, we talked about thatyou.
You did debate at the highschool level, but then you were
always kind of like I don't knowif this is really for me, but
you're, you're doing that on theregular for Casper College.
Have you enjoyed that?
Have you enjoyed doing?
Josie House (14:26):
the debate.
Oh, this is such a funny thingto talk about.
So we went to a tournament, ourfirst tournament of the year in
college, and one unique thingabout the way that we do debate
is it's like extemp debate.
So we get 30 minutes to prepand then we go in.
And so one thing that our teamdoes is we try to help each
other prep, because sometimesit's really easy to like get
(14:46):
really overwhelmed, and sosometimes they would have they
are debaters would say like, hey, guys, we need some people with
us to just like Google thingsfor us, just like help us find
evidence, help us find articles.
And so I was like, ok, I can dothat.
And so I go up there with mycomputer and I'm like this is
fun, I like helping.
And so I like helped prep andlike some people were like wow,
(15:07):
josie, you are really helpful,like thank you.
And I was like wait, should Ibe a debater?
And so then I told my coaches Iwas like, hey, maybe I want to
do debate because I didn't haveall my events up yet anyways.
So I was like, yeah, let'sswitch out poetry for debate,
why not?
And then I went to my firsttournament and did debate and I
kind of like I feel like Ifumbled my way through it, but I
did end up like getting likethird or something.
And so they were like, okay,well, now you're going to be a
(15:28):
debater.
And I was like, oh, okay, gotit.
So I kept debating because I,you know, I kind of found
success that one tournament, andI was really surprised that it
was actually something that Iapparently can do kind of well.
Um, I would get like speakerawards.
So I was like Whoa, like that'skind of cool.
Um, but if you ask anybody onmy team, I spend most of my time
(15:52):
stressing about debate.
I'm always, every time debateday rolls around, I'm oh, no,
it's debate day.
I'm so stressed.
But when I go into tournamentand when I go into each round,
I'm like, oh, this is so fun, Ilove it.
So it's.
I have a really complicatedrelationship with debate, but I
do like it, but I just, I don'tknow, it's just complicated,
it's a very like.
It's a really big joke on myteam, because I spend all of my
(16:13):
time like, oh, debate, and thenI go in and I'm like this is so
fun.
So it's confusing.
Lyle Wiley (16:19):
A little bit of a love-hate relationship.
Josie House (16:21):
Yeah absolutely.
Lyle Wiley (16:22):
Maybe borderline toxic Hopefully not.
Josie House (16:26):
I really do like it .
I think it's really fun, but Ijust I don't know something
about it.
I'm just like oh, again.
Lyle Wiley (16:32):
Yeah, I mean, I do think.
I mean it just takes a littlebit of time to get used to the
pressure that comes with debate,I think is part of it, and I
think also the big thing for meis that like well, just like in
high school, you do more prelimrounds in debate than you do for
your speech rounds.
Josie House (16:47):
So at Firehole Pi I was doing like I would do each
of my like interp events likethree times, but then I was
doing like six prelim rounds fordebate.
And when you do it, and thenalso in high or in college, we
do like one day of debate mostof the time.
So it's like one day is alldebate, the next day is like
everything else, and so when youdo like six rounds back after
back after back, it's likeexhausting.
(17:08):
That was something I did notlike.
Prepare for my first tournament.
I found out that I was going todo a mall in one day and I was
like, whoa, I'm going to dodebate six times.
No break, you kidding me.
But you know you get through it.
You get tired, you drink energydrinks, like we all do, and
then you survive.
Lyle Wiley (17:26):
Yeah, it is kind of an endurance test, though it's
true.
Josie House (17:28):
It's true, absolutely, it's a lot yeah.
Lyle Wiley (17:31):
Well, I mean, you know me, I'm a fan of debate, so
you know, welcome to the darkside, and I think that that's, I
think I'm sure you're doing areally good job.
Thank you, I do think it's timefor our ghostly interlude.
And some spooky noises.
Yeah, I've been asking folks ifthey believe in ghosts and the
paranormal, just to kind of seewhat they think what do you?
(17:55):
What do you think?
Are you a believer?
Josie House (17:57):
here's my thing.
Um, I want to say no.
I want to be like no, I don'tbelieve in ghosts, you know,
like that's whatever.
However, um, I would nevertouch a ouija board and I would
rather die than go into anabandoned building.
So, so, while I'm like no, Idon't really think so, I'm also
like I'm kind of scared to saythat, because what if they hear
me, like if they are out there?
What if they like come and getme?
(18:18):
So I don't really know.
It's kind of an interestingthing because I remember like,
growing up, like my dad would belike you know, like, don't be
afraid of ghosts, becausethey're probably just sitting in
a building.
Like what are they doing?
They're just sitting in abuilding like playing cards,
waiting for somebody to come in,and then what do they do?
Turn on and off the lights andslam doors, come on, come on.
And I was like you know what,when you put it like that,
(18:39):
that's like, yeah, I'm notafraid of ghosts, but then I'm
also like I would.
I would rather die than touch aouija board.
Lyle Wiley (18:45):
So you know I'm so it's a complicated thing so you
think there's probably somethingout there, but you'd rather
just leave it alone.
You don't really want to know.
Josie House (18:55):
Yeah, I'm like, probably not, but just in case
there is, I'm going to berespectful, all right, just to
save myself.
Lyle Wiley (19:03):
That's a pretty smart response, probably.
So back to some speech anddebate stuff, although it's kind
of uh, you know, it's sort ofconnected.
We're going to be talking aboutovercoming fears and obstacles
at camp with a bunch of folksthis year, and so I was curious
if you had some stories aboutyou know spooky obstacles or
scary times in speech that youuh that you had that then helped
(19:27):
you learn or grow or had someimpact on you do.
Do you have anything cool?
Josie House (19:32):
I think something that I learned this season the
most was that you really have tolike.
One of the things that I lovedabout college was that I got to
be on a team with all of theseamazing people from around the
state.
However, with that, there was alot of fear, because it is
really hard to be on a team withpeople where especially like
(19:53):
when you don't have like themost confidence it's really hard
to be on a team with all thesepeople that you know are just so
amazing, because there's a lotof pressure there, especially
when you're on a team that isknown to like do really well.
There's just a lot of pressurethere, lot of pressure there,
(20:13):
and so one thing that I reallyhad to figure out was like and
it kind of goes back to what Iwas talking about earlier it's
just like not psyching yourselfout.
One of the scariest things thatI've had to do was like compete
against some of my ownteammates and be like, oh my
gosh, like this is like scary,but it's also really cool to
know that some of the bestcompetition is on your own team
and that's really awesome.
Like we had a couple times whereour duo rounds four out of six
(20:34):
of us were from Casper Collegeand that was really cool.
But it's also like kind of scarybecause you're going against
like some of your best friendsand like trying to duke it out
in round and, yeah, it can bereally intimidating.
But I think really justlearning to take things one
round at a time that was one ofthe best pieces of advice that I
was given is that you knoweveryone is capable of making
(20:55):
mistakes, whether or not youhave the most phenomenal track
record or you're brand new.
Like everyone is capable ofgoing into a round and biffing
it and so like we are all likeone thing we said a lot is like
we are all just people.
And so really going in andlearning to take it one round at
a time because that's reallythe only thing you can control
is the next round.
So I think that was one of thebest things that I had to kind
(21:17):
of work through.
But it was also one of the mostscary things that I had to like
be a part of was, you know,competing against your own
teammates and feeling scared.
But it's worth like workingthrough.
Lyle Wiley (21:28):
Yeah, it is kind of a powerhouse group at the casper
college a lot of reallytalented people there um so you
look at our roster you're likewhoa, that's crazy.
Yeah, it's cool to be a part ofa team like that, but yeah, it's
so fun I'm sure that there's alittle bit of pressure and yeah
it's, yeah, it's got to beawkward to compete against each
other too, I know.
Yeah, really weird, but yeah,well, um, I am curious what,
(21:55):
what's next for you?
Like, we talked about this alittle bit, the possibility of
maybe going into the speechafter this year, but uh, yeah,
what's the what's the plan?
Like, what are you studyingright now?
What's your longterm plan?
Josie House (22:08):
Um, so my freshman year I changed my major like
four times.
Anyone who tells you that youcan go in and stick to one thing
?
Probably not true, because Imean maybe some people do.
But I changed my major a lot.
Right now I am in the pre-OTprogram here, so I'm hoping to
graduate with my associates foroccupational therapy, like my
(22:29):
pre, to get into the program,and then we have like a joint
program with the University ofNorth Dakota, so I'm kind of
hoping to get in there, whichwould mean that I would stay in
Casper and then I can work allthe way up to my master's so
that I can start like practicingoccupational therapy.
But I'm also like I'm kind ofjust taking it by what happens.
I'm going to look into someother schools.
(22:50):
I considered Northern ArizonaUniversity when I was first
looking at colleges so I mightpop back over there and see
what's up, but I'm not entirelysure.
I do definitely want to kind oflook at colleges that have
speech programs, just because itis really helpful, like not
only financially if you can geta scholarship, but also I just
it's a really it's been a safething for me, the one reason
(23:13):
that I did decide to do CasperCollege and I did decide to keep
doing speech was because I knewthat, like when you transition
into college, life it's a lot,but having something that you're
kind of familiar with is areally good way to kind of get
through it.
And so it was really nicebecause I moved into college and
then I automatically had likeall of these people that I
already knew and like I hadfriends and I was able to do
(23:36):
something that I know, that Ilove and that I know that would
like keep me motivated, and soit was a really good.
Um, it's been really good tolike do college and also do
speech.
It's just been really helpfulfor me.
So I would like to kind of keepdoing that because it just is
really fun.
Lyle Wiley (23:52):
Yeah, totally, totally understand that.
Are you involved in coaching atall?
Have you been helping out withany programs or anything?
Josie House (23:58):
I do help out with Lander.
I'm also just available ifpeople ever need anything.
I'm always willing to help out,debate, speech, whatever.
Lyle Wiley (24:08):
So I'm always just kind of around.
You've done some judging forthe community too.
I have whatever, so I'm alwaysjust kind of around I have.
Yes, I do love to judge.
Josie House (24:13):
I love judging.
A lot of people like don't likeit, but I love it.
I think it's so fun.
I love going back and gettingto see like some of my best
friends that are still in highschool and but also just like I
love watching rounds.
I love being able to givefeedback and say like hey, like
this could be like reallydynamic if we do this.
Like I just love going in andjudging and being around the
(24:34):
people that I've always reallyenjoyed, so I like it.
Lyle Wiley (24:39):
So just kind of a big picture question what do you
love most about speech anddebate in general?
I think you've covered a lot ofthis already, probably.
Oh, my goodness, what's yourfavorite?
Such a?
Josie House (24:46):
hard question.
Um, I think the thing that Ialways tell people is that I
love an activity that encouragesyou to not only speak up but to
also listen.
I think I've learned a lot aboutthe world and about life just
by listening to other people andtheir stories and what they've
gone through, and so I thinkthat's like absolutely my
(25:08):
favorite thing about speech isthat I love an activity that
takes all of these young peopleand actually kind of puts the
world in our hands and says howwould you tackle this issue?
What do you think is wrong?
And I think that that's reallyimportant and it's really like I
love the purpose.
There is no other activity thatyou can be a part of that is so
important for you and forothers and for our future than
(25:32):
speech and debate.
Like it is just a phenomenalthing to be a part of and it's
important.
I love being able to walk awayfrom an activity and say that
like I learned something aboutmyself, I maybe taught somebody
else something, and like I had agood impact on my community and
on people around me.
I think that that's really justunique to speech.
(25:53):
It's a good answer.
Lyle Wiley (25:54):
Josie Thanks.
This last question.
It's probably sort ofsemi-connected, I suppose, but I
have been kind of closing outinterviews at the Clapocalypse
by asking folks about why speechand debate is worth the terror
you hear often about.
You know like there's thatstudy that's cited all the time
(26:14):
about people being more likeless afraid of dying than public
speaking kind of thing, youknow, so uh if, if it's such a
huge fear for people like, whyis participating in speech and
debate kind of worth it?
What do you think?
Josie House (26:28):
oh my goodness, I always think it's so funny when
I tell people I do speech andthey're like, wow, I would
rather, like I'd rather die thanyou know, talk in front of
people.
And I totally get that.
I definitely remember like someof my first rounds I was like,
wait, I'm supposed to like dothis in front of people.
That's, that's weird.
Um, but I definitely think thatit's worth it.
(26:49):
One, because, girl, you shineso much more when you have to do
class presentations, whenyou're able to get it up there
and just kind of razzle, dazzleyour professors.
They eat it up, they love it.
Um.
But also I think that it's justworth kind of getting through
that fear, because I think it'sit makes you a little bit more
able to like I don't know.
I want to say it almost makesyou safer because you're able to
(27:11):
like be confident.
It gives you like confidenceand so then, if it ever does
come to like a situation whereyou need to like stand up for
yourself, I think you're moreable to do that because you, you
know you're able to like speakcoherently and intelligently.
So I do think it's reallyimportant that you get through
the fear of public speakingbecause you're able to just
connect better with people butalso stand up for yourself a
(27:33):
little bit easier if you need to.
So I don't know.
I think it's really awesome andjust like the community that
you get along with.
Speech is so, so cool and thefriends, but mostly the
confidence that you gain is likesomething that's just so useful
in all of the other areas oflife.
Lyle Wiley (27:48):
I really appreciate you coming and getting on the
podcast.
It's been really great to talkto you and like maybe we could
chat again in the future.
It'd be really cool.
Josie House (27:56):
Absolutely.
I'm always down.
I am a chronic yapper.
I will talk about speechwhenever.
Lyle Wiley (28:01):
Thank you so much to Josie for her awesome interview
.
I'm excited to have her back onthe show in the future.
So what's going on in theclapocalypse?
Tomorrow, camp one clapcounselor from last year, alexis
worthing, is back to chat aboutmodel un and a whole bunch of
things about the horror genre,so you'll want to be there for
that.
Remember to check the socialmedia challenges on our socials
(28:22):
and we'll see you tomorrow.
Campers, by the way, take iteasy on zombies.
They're depressed, you know,because they feel dead inside.
For For Camp One Clap, this isCamp Director Wiley signing off.
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