Speaker 1

ROUND 1 THEME: DRAG

The October Surprise 2021 - Impromptu Round 1 - Speaker 1: 

1. “That is the key to navigating this life—don’t take it too seriously. That’s when the party begins.” - RuPaul

2. “The only thing wrong with me was that I thought there was something wrong with me.” - Courtney Act

3. “Walk into the room purse first.” - Bob the Drag Queen

Speaker 2

ROUND 1 THEME: DRAG

The October Surprise 2021 - Impromptu Round 1 - Speaker 2: 

1. “When you become the image of your own imagination, it’s the most powerful thing you could ever do.” - RuPaul

2. “I'm one of those people that laugh at a funeral. And it's always the worst time, but there's always a place to find something funny.” - Bianca del Rio

3. “Check your lipstick before you come for me.” –Naomi Smalls

Speaker 3

ROUND 1 THEME: DRAG

The October Surprise 2021 - Impromptu Round 1 - Speaker 3: 

1. "When the going gets tough, the tough reinvent.” - RuPaul

2. “I tend to think that emotions are for ugly people.” –Willam

3. “When you are dealing with people judging what you do, you just have to let it roll off like water off a duck's back.” - Jinkx Monsoon

Speaker 4

ROUND 1 THEME: DRAG

The October Surprise 2021 - Impromptu Round 1 - Speaker 4: 

1. “I can be pretty, I just prefer not to.” - Alaska 5000

2. "I kind of have this mentality that says, everything works out in the end. And if it's not working out, it's not the end." - Bob the Drag Queen

3. “We’re all born naked, the rest is drag.” - RuPaul

Speaker 5

ROUND 1 THEME: DRAG

The October Surprise 2021 - Impromptu Round 1 - Speaker 5: 

1. “I don't think I'm better than anybody else, but I really think that I'm hilarious and beautiful.” - Trixie Mattel

2. “If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell are you going to love somebody else?” –RuPaul

3. “A superstar doesn't just use the spotlight for themselves.” - Sasha Velour

Speaker 6

ROUND 1 THEME: DRAG

The October Surprise 2021 - Impromptu Round 1 - Speaker 6: 

1. "We are all illusionists and that's why we are attracted to drag queens. This whole world is an illusion. It's not real." - RuPaul

2. “I may not have grace, but I can possess beauty.” - Alaska 5000

3. “The limits of our success are just the limits of our energy.” - Katya Zamolodchikova

Speaker 7

ROUND 1 THEME: DRAG

The October Surprise 2021 - Impromptu Round 1 - Speaker 7: 

1. "If you have goals and the stick-with-it-ness to make things happen, people will feel threatened by you, especially if your goals don’t include them." - RuPaul

2. “If I don't like my face, if I don't like my skin, if I don't like my weight. I think to myself 'I have nice teeth.' And it may just start with that one tooth. Look at that tooth. That's a nice tooth, man.” - Bob the Drag Queen

3. “A superstar doesn't just use the spotlight for themselves.” - Sasha Velour

Speaker 1

ROUND 2 THEME: SURPRISES

The October Surprise 2021 - Impromptu Round 2 - Speaker 1:

1. “When ideas are confronted with reality, there will always be surprises.” - Boyan Slat

2. “One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn't do.” - Henry Ford

3. “I like the serendipitous surprises of reality.” - Lawrence Wright

Speaker 2

ROUND 2 THEME: SURPRISES

The October Surprise 2021 - Impromptu Round 2 - Speaker 2:

1. “I always love to be careful with my expectations so that life has pleasant surprises for me.” - Sebastian Thrun

2. “Surprises are foolish things. The pleasure is not enhanced, and the inconvenience is often considerable.” - Jane Austen

3. “Content that surprises the audience will attract them.” - Sara Kahn

Speaker 3

ROUND 2 THEME: SURPRISES

The October Surprise 2021 - Impromptu Round 2 - Speaker 3:

1. “I think there's a part in each one of us that wants the impossible to happen, and that's what surprises are.” - Gina Carano

2. “One mind can think only of its own questions; it rarely surprises itself.” - Orson Scott Card

3. “My life is so full of surprises, nothing surprises me any more.” - Kim Wilde

Speaker 4

ROUND 2 THEME: SURPRISES

The October Surprise 2021 - Impromptu Round 2 - Speaker 4:

1. “Sometimes you surprise the goalkeeper and sometimes the goalkeeper surprises you. In my career, I tried to do more of the first than the second.” - Eric Cantona

2. “The thing that surprises me most is, you cannot change who you are.” - Jeff Probst

3. “Nothing surprises me, particularly men and their propensity to be fools.” - Pete Hamill

Speaker 5

ROUND 2 THEME: SURPRISES

The October Surprise 2021 - Impromptu Round 2 - Speaker 5:

1. “Mystery is at the heart of creativity. That, and surprise.” - Julia Cameron

2. “There is no surprise more magical than the surprise of being loved: It is God's finger on man's shoulder.” - Charles Morgan

3. “It's great to be a blonde. With low expectations it's very easy to surprise people.” - Pamela Anderson

Speaker 6

ROUND 2 THEME: SURPRISES

The October Surprise 2021 - Impromptu Round 2 - Speaker 6:

1. “When you're willing to be vulnerable, you can surprise yourself at how strong you can be." - Jonathan van Ness

2. “Don't tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.” - George S. Patton

3. “The surprise is half the battle. Many things are half the battle, losing is half the battle. Let's think about what's the whole battle.” - David Mamet

Speaker 7

ROUND 2 THEME: SURPRISES

The October Surprise 2021 - Impromptu Round 2 - Speaker 7:

1. “Revolution is as unpredictable as an earthquake and as beautiful as spring. Its coming is always a surprise, but its nature should not be.” - Rebecca Solnit

2. “I worked half my life to be an overnight success, and still it took me by surprise.” - Jessica Savitch

3. “It is always better to wait for a good surprise instead of thinking about it.” - Mani Sharma

Speaker 1

ROUND 3: FILIPINO HERITAGE MONTH

The October Surprise 2021 - Impromptu Round 3 - Speaker 1:

1. “A lie told a million times becomes the truth.” - Maria Ressa

2. “Love your enemies... it's not always an easy tenet to live by... and I have more often than not been inclined to wish my enemies ill than well.” - Lea Salonga

3. “With a lot of attention comes criticism, but I'll take that.” - Saweetie

Speaker 2

ROUND 3: FILIPINO HERITAGE MONTH

The October Surprise 2021 - Impromptu Round 3 - Speaker 2:

1. “Never expect anything, but plan for everything.” - Lisa Soberano

2. “He who does not know how to look back at where he came from will never get to his destination.” - Jose Rizal

3. “I want justice to be so pervasive that it will be taken for granted, just as injustice is taken for granted today.” - Gloria Macapagal Arroyo

Speaker 3

ROUND 3: FILIPINO HERITAGE MONTH

The October Surprise 2021 - Impromptu Round 3 - Speaker 6:

1. “The power of one, if fearless and focused, is formidable, but the power of many working together is better.” - Gloria Macapagal Arroyo

2. “I want to show the richness of even the most disagreeable bits of life.” - Alfonso Ossorio

3. "I always believe that if you have a good heart, you just want to do what's right. You don't want to step on anyone.” - Heart Evangelista

Speaker 4

ROUND 3: FILIPINO HERITAGE MONTH

The October Surprise 2021 - Impromptu Round 3 - Speaker 4:

1. “Embrace your fear. Imagine what you're most afraid of, touch it and hold it so that you rob it of its power.” - Maria Ressa

2. “Justice is the foremost virtue of the civilizing races. It subdues the barbarous nations, while injustice arouses the weakest.” - Jose Rizal

3. “I'm just a regular person who believes life is simple, and I like a simple life.” - Manny Pacquiao

Speaker 5

ROUND 3: FILIPINO HERITAGE MONTH

The October Surprise 2021 - Impromptu Round 3 - Speaker 5:

1. “It's never right to fight terror with terror.” - Gloria Macapagal Arroyo

2. “We all, to some degree, absorb the mythologies around us, our vision refracted by the prisms of our particular time and place.” - Alex Tizon

3. “I'm not a minority: I'm a majority of one.” - Jose Antonio Vargas

Speaker 6

ROUND 3: FILIPINO HERITAGE MONTH

The October Surprise 2021 - Impromptu Round 3 - Speaker 6:

1. “The power of one, if fearless and focused, is formidable, but the power of many working together is better.” - Gloria Macapagal Arroyo

2. “I want to show the richness of even the most disagreeable bits of life.” - Alfonso Ossorio

3. "I always believe that if you have a good heart, you just want to do what's right. You don't want to step on anyone.” - Heart Evangelista

Speaker 7

ROUND 3: FILIPINO HERITAGE MONTH

The October Surprise 2021 - Impromptu Round 3 - Speaker 7:

1. “I sow; my successor reaps. This is the majesty of democracy.” - Gloria Macapagal Arroyo

2. “At the end of the day, stories connect us, not politics. And there's so many stories out there waiting to be told. It's just a matter of who's out there listening.” - Jose Antonio Vargas

3. “Shame is hard to confront. Even if you know it's baseless, it's still hard to come face-to-face with.” - Alex Tizon

Speaker 1

FINAL ROUND: NATIONAL DISABILITY EMPLOYMENT AWARENESS MONTH 

The October Surprise 2021 - Impromptu Finals - Speaker 1:

1. “I am different, not less.” - Temple Grandin

2. “What I would tell a kid with ADHD and dyslexia or someone who struggles with anything in life is this: 'When you put your mind to it, you can do anything.'” - Michelle Carter

3. "You can never use excuses because they always run out.” - RJ Mitte

Speaker 2

FINAL ROUND: NATIONAL DISABILITY EMPLOYMENT AWARENESS MONTH 

The October Surprise 2021 - Impromptu Finals - Speaker 2:

1. "The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart.” - Helen Keller

2. "Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation and that is an act of political warfare.” - Audre Lorde

3. “When haters go after your looks and differences, it means they have nowhere left to go.” - Greta Thunberg

Speaker 3

FINAL ROUND: NATIONAL DISABILITY EMPLOYMENT AWARENESS MONTH 

The October Surprise 2021 - Impromptu Finals - Speaker 3:

1. “My disability exists not because I use a wheelchair, but because the broader environment isn’t accessible.” - Stella Young

2. “I used the people who were telling me that I couldn’t do this – to motivate me.” - Lizzie Velazquez

3. “Everybody deserves the right to go to a restaurant. Everybody deserves the right to go on a date. Everybody deserves the right to be employed and have an opportunity. But for people with disabilities, these things aren’t there.” - Dylan Alcott

Speaker 4

FINAL ROUND: NATIONAL DISABILITY EMPLOYMENT AWARENESS MONTH 

The October Surprise 2021 - Impromptu Finals - Speaker 4:

1. “The most interesting people you’ll find are ones that don’t fit into your average cardboard box. They’ll make what they need, they’ll make their own boxes.” - Temple Grandin

2. “Don’t forget about yourself.” - Chella Man

3. “My unique challenges have opened up unique opportunities to reach so many in need.” - Nick Vujicic

Speaker 5

FINAL ROUND: NATIONAL DISABILITY EMPLOYMENT AWARENESS MONTH 

The October Surprise 2021 - Impromptu Finals - Speaker 5:

1. “If we are to achieve a richer culture, we must weave one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place.” - Margaret Meade

2. “Courage doesn’t mean you don’t get afraid. Courage means you don’t let fear stop you.” - Bethany Hamilton

3. “If disabled people were truly heard, an explosion of knowledge of the human body and psyche would take place." - Susan Wendell

Speaker 6

FINAL ROUND: NATIONAL DISABILITY EMPLOYMENT AWARENESS MONTH

The October Surprise 2021 - Impromptu Finals - Speaker 6:

1. “The downside of my celebrity is that I cannot go anywhere in the world without being recognized. It is not enough for me to wear dark sunglasses and a wig. The wheelchair gives me away.” - Stephen Hawking

2. “Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content.” - Helen Keller

3. "Disability is a matter of perception. If you can do just one thing well, you're needed by someone." - Martina Navratilova

Speaker 7

FINAL ROUND: NATIONAL DISABILITY EMPLOYMENT AWARENESS MONTH

The October Surprise 2021 - Impromptu Finals - Speaker 7:

1. “I often wished that more people understood the invisible side of things. Even the people who seemed to understand, didn't really.” - Jennifer Starzec

2. “Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns have roses." - Alphonse Karr

3. “A troubled life beats having no life at all" - Richard M. Cohen