C. Open Impromptu Event Prompts
Round 1 - 12:45/ NFA 1:00
Speaker 1
“Destroying things is much easier than making them.” Katniss Everdeen, The Hunger Games
“You have to survive.” - Haymitch Abernathy, The Hunger Games
"Half of bravery is perspective." - Veronica Roth, Divergent
Speaker 2
“I’m not their leader. I never wanted to be.” - Katniss Everdeen, Mockingjay
“We’re fickle, stupid beings with poor memories and a great gift for self-destruction.” - Plutarch Heavensbee, Catching Fire
"Fear doesn't shut you down, it wakes you up." - Veronica Roth, Divergent
Speaker 3
“It must be a fragile system if it can be brought down by just a few berries.” - Katniss Everdeen
“It’s the things we love most that destroy us.” - President Snow, Mockingjay
"I have a theory that selflessness and bravery aren't all that different.” - Veronica Roth, Divergent
Speaker 4
“You don’t forget the face of the person who was your last hope.” - Katniss Everdeen
“The show’s not over until the mockingjay sings.” - Caesar Flickerman, Catching Fire
"Politeness is deception in pretty packaging. It must require bravery to be honest all the time." - Veronica Roth, Divergent
Speaker 5
“You never forget what you’re fighting for.” - Katniss Everdeen, Catching Fire
“This is no place for a girl on fire.” - President Snow, Catching Fire
"A brave man acknowledges the strength of others." - Veronica Roth, Divergent
Speaker 6
“If he wants me broken, then I will have to be whole.” - Katniss Everdeen, Mockingjay
“You’re stronger than you think.” - Peeta Mellark, Catching Fire
"A chasm reminds us that there is a fine line between bravery and idiocy." - Veronica Roth, Divergent
Round 2 - 5:30 - NFA 5:45
Speaker 1
“Goodbye everyone, I'll remember you all in therapy." - Plankton from SpongeBob Squarepants
"The strongest man in the world is the one who stands most alone." - Henrik Ibsen
“Always believe in your ability and in your goals. This is the only way you will be able to reach them.” - Mohamed Salah
Speaker 2
“If we don’t stop admiring them, we can’t surpass them.” - Shohei Ohtani
“There’s freedom in letting go of who you were told to be and choosing who you actually want to become.” - Heather Gay
"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." - Lord Acton
Speaker 3
“Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears.” - John Lennon
"The margins are where the future is built." - Ruth Wilson Gilmore
"Justice requires us to rethink what we have been taught is normal." - Dorothy Roberts
Speaker 4
“Even Louis Vuitton makes mistakes.” - Luann de Lesseps
"Accountability is the highest form of care." - Miriame Kaba
“Competition in itself encourages creativity and creativity is the basis of knowledge.” - Farouk El-Baz
Speaker 5
"It's kind of fun to do the impossible." - Walt Disney"
“All great art allows us this: a glimpse across the limits of our self.” - Hisham Matar
“All great changes are preceded by chaos.” - Deepak Chopra
Speaker 6
The need for change bulldozed a road down the center of my mind. – Maya Angelou
"Maybe this world is another planet's Hell." - Aldous Huxley
“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” - Ibn Battuta
Round 3 - 5:30 / NFA 5:45
Speaker 1
“Adventure may hurt you, but monotony will kill you.” - Anonymous
"The master's tools will never dismantle the master's house." - Audre Lorde
“Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.” - Albert Einstein
Speaker 2
“An error doesn’t become a mistake until you refuse to correct it.” - Orlando Aloysius Battista
"The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge." - Stephen Hawking
"Moral indignation is jealousy with a halo." - H. G. Wells
Speaker 3
"An unjust law is no law at all." - Augustine of Hippo
"If you do not change direction, you might end up where you are heading.” - Lao Tzu
“Pure unadulterated success is not nearly as funny as failure.” - Will Arnett
Speaker 4
“Dive into the sea, or stay away.” - Nizar Qabbani
"There is no liberation without collective accountability." - Mariame Kaba
“The inheritance of wealth is a handcuff to progress.” - Henry George
Speaker 5
"Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored." - Aldous Huxley
“In recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute.” - Thurgood Marshall
“Say it, forget it. Write it, regret it.” - Dorinda Medley
Speaker 6
"Hope is not a feeling—it is a practice." - Mia Birdsong
"We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light." - Plato
"The duty of youth is to challenge corruption." - Kurt Cobain
Semis - 4:30
Speaker 1
"A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes." - Mark Twain
“When you choose the lesser of two evils, always remember that it is still an evil.” - Max Lerner
"Oppression is not just a matter of intent; it is a matter of impact." - Brittney Cooper
Speaker 2
"Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear." - Mark Twain
“I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.” - Abraham Lincoln
“I’m a Southern belle. I’m not into confrontation… but I will read you down.” - Phaedra Parks
Speaker 3
"I criticize by creation - not by finding fault." - Cicero
"Organizing is the art of turning shared pain into shared power." - Rachel Herzing
“To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries.” - Aldous Huxley
Speaker 4
"The object of power is power." - George Orwell
“There is always more waiting for you on the other side of fear.” - Elaine Welteroth
"A man can't be too careful in the choice of his enemies." - Oscar Wilde
Speaker 5
"The test of first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time." - F. Scott Fitzgerald
“Givers have to set limits because takers rarely do.” - Irma Kurtz
"Justice is what love looks like in public." - Cornel West
Speaker 6
"We are all complicit in what we tolerate." - Judith Butler
“Hold fast to dream; for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.” - Langston Hughes
“Grief can be a burden, but also an anchor. You get used to the weight.” - Sarah Dessen
Finals - 8:00
Speaker 1
“Home is not where you were born, home is where all your attempts to escape cease.” – Omar Taher
“Civilization is like a thin layer of ice upon a deep ocean of chaos and darkness.” ― Werner Herzog
"The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion." - Noam Chomsky
Speaker 2
“If you overvalue the uncommon, you spoil the uncommon and it begins to think of itself as something very precious!” ― Mehmet Murat Ildan
“Academia is the death of cinema. It is the very opposite of passion. Film is not the art of scholars, but of illiterates.” - Werner Herzog
"The oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class are to represent and repress them." - Karl Marx
Speaker 3
"Man is condemned to be free." - Jean-Paul Sartre
"We must dismantle not only systems, but the stories that sustain them." - Imani Perry
"Liberation is not a metaphor—it is material." - Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
Speaker 4
"There is nothing so practical as a good theory." - Kurt Lewin
“You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.” – Naguib Mahfouz
"If you can count your money, you don't have a billion dollars." - J. Paul Getty
Speaker 5
"Visibility is not the same as victory." - Janaya Khan
“To overcome my fear, I shackled myself with hope, its links heavier than any metal known to man.” – Laila Lalami
"If we are not intersectional, some of us will fall through the cracks." - Kimberlé Crenshaw
Speaker 6
“When Irish eyes are smiling, sure, ‘tis like the morn in spring. In the lilt of Irish laughter, you can hear the angels sing.” - Bing Crosby
“There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power.” — Washington Irving
"God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh." - Voltaire