FAIR OAKS, CA (MPG) - The Rotary Club of Fair Oaks hosted its annual Speech Contest for local high school students on March 1, 2021. This year was different, with the contest held via Zoom due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The challenges of the past year also inspired this year’s theme:  How 2020 Opens Opportunity.

Jocelyn Monroe-Holder, a freshman at Meraki High School, began by recounting the economic shutdowns, business closures, and mass unemployment that resulted from the pandemic: “You watched as the world slowed before your eyes.” In addition to the pandemic, she said 2020 was dominated by the debate about police use of force against minority communities. The challenges of 2020 presented people with the opportunity to “reevaluate who we are and why,” said Monroe-Holder.

With most interactions limited or restricted during lockdown, people relied on their devices to connect with others online, leading some to discover more about themselves and what groups they identify with—“recognizing where they belong,” she said.

“The world has stopped going round. But with the power of those who struggled, who brushed off their knees and tried time after time after time again, you will see the sun again,” said Monroe-Holder. She said that 2020 changed everything, but “change brings chance.” People showed the ability to work together—and the power of love and hope. And she said hope is “the biggest opportunity of all.”

Briana Le, a junior at Bella Vista High School, said that while 2020 will be remembered as “one of the darker years in world history,” it also “showed some of the best parts of humanity,” such as “perseverance, resilience, empathy, and kindness.” Le said that in a time of fear and despair, people made the choice to make a difference. The challenges of the pandemic gave us the opportunity to “think of creative solutions to a new problem. It challenged our limits and what we were able to do,” she said.

While individual acts of kindness can’t change the world, Le said those acts can “put a little bit more light into the world at a dark time.” For Le, “It makes you believe in the promise of a better world.”

“In the darkness, we found ways to express ourselves, we found ways to help others, we found ways to express the hopes and joys of being alive. We made all these opportunities and forged our own path,” said Le, “2020 gave us the opportunity to show our love and light.”

Nancy Cheng, a senior at Sacramento Waldorf, said that as an international student from China, she is used to a fast-paced life filled with extensive plans. But in 2020, she said, “nothing was inside my control.” She took the opportunity to enjoy the time connecting with her family—and to connect with herself. “Never before did I have such a chance to slow down and learn how to be with myself.” Cheng learned to enjoy her own company: “I can be my own light.”

Cheng said the pandemic allowed people to see and “truly value the people who work behind the scenes” such as clerks, drivers, and farmers.  “Every single life is of equal importance and we all need to go through this together,” she said.

One of the greatest opportunities Cheng highlighted from 2020 was the ability to learn. With so much information and so many resources online, Le said there is the chance to learn, discover, and explore. “If you have the heart to learn, everything is available,” she said.  “Opportunities are for those who are ready to embrace them—always, and especially in 2020.”

Jayha Buhs-Jackson, a freshman at Bella Vista High School, said that 2020 began with the promise of a new decade, but it ended up taking away so much from so many people. But being forced out of school and away from friends and extended family taught her to appreciate things that are often taken for granted.

The pandemic has been considered an equalizer since anyone can be infected, but Buhs-Jackson said it has actually highlighted the disparity between privileged and marginalized groups. “Before the pandemic, marginalized groups were already fighting a virus of white supremacy, and there hasn’t been an antidote for that,” she said.

Buhs-Jackson quoted Maya Angelou, “When you know better, you do better,” and said that 2020 was “America’s recurring opportunity to do something about the systemic inequality in this country. A recurring opportunity for America to live up to the promises this country gave when they formed.” She said 2020 will be remembered as America’s opportunity to act.

Speech Contest Chair Nick Broad said the contestants all showed “courage and hard work.” A panel of judges scored the four contestants on the delivery, originality, and content of their speeches. Monroe-Holder took fourth place, Buhs-Jackson took third, and Le placed second.  Cheng won first place, earning $200 and a place in the Rotary’s District-wide contest.