San Jose City College’s communications studies & mass media department held its third annual speech competition on Nov. 21. The event gave students a platform to talk about topics that interested them, from Taiwanese history to cavities.

Three dozen students competed against each other, with the best presentations advancing to the next round. The winner of the competition was Queenie Dang, an 18-year-old psychology major who did her presentation on the spotlight effect.

“My class was discussing the spotlight effect … and I decided that, ‘Oh, wait, I really like this topic,’” Dang said. “I thought that it would apply to a lot of people, it would be relatable and I could think of some things that would make it really engaging.”

Yves Gomez, a 22-year-old cosmetology major, took third place with a speech on the 1995 comedy-drama “To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar.” Gomez talked about the production of the movie, which follows a trio of drag queens as they take a road trip to a pageant and the inspiration behind it.

“When I first saw the movie, I was probably 16 or 17,” Gomez said. “It really made me empowered to see people who weren’t even gay themselves, to willingly be able to play a heartfelt position … especially during the ‘90s.”

Other students chose to present on topics which had greatly impacted their lives. Dayra Mejia, a 21-year-old majoring in childhood and adolescent development, delivered an informational speech about lupus. Her sister suffered from the autoimmune disease, which causes the immune system to attack healthy parts of the body.

Mejia’s sister was at one point hospitalized because of her lupus, and the effect of this on her family was compounded by COVID-19 restrictions, which were in place at the time.

“I think that during that time when she was hospitalized, we generally thought she wasn’t going to make it,” Mejia said.

Her speech touched on lupus’ lesser-known effects on mental health, such as self-perception. Mejia’s sister lost much of her hair, which impacted her body image, and she also developed schizophrenia.

“She said that she would remember seeing things in the hospital, remember talking to people, but then … she would wake up and then they weren’t there,” Mejia said. “I had also experienced seeing her talk, but she wouldn’t understand what she was saying.”

Guadalupe Alatorre, a professor of communication studies at SJCC, brought the idea of a speech competition with her from California State University, San Bernardino. She organized the first competition in 2023, the year after she came to San Jose.

Alatorre sees the competition as an educational experience.

“They’re able to showcase their public speaking skills,” she said. She looks forward to future competitions, adding, “It’s always fun, exciting, because we’re putting an event together that’s bringing our students together.”