Always look on the bright side of life.
It’s a philosophy that’s won a remarkable Rossland student a trophy for public speaking.
Rossland Summit School Grade Six student Oliver Ridge won first place in the B.C-Pacific Northwest Optimists Speaking Competition for Deaf/Hard of Hearing last month. The competition, held at the Michael J Fox Theatre in Burnaby, brings students with hearing issues from across the region to speak publicly for the chance to win a college scholarship.
This year’s topic: “Where are the Roots of My Optimism?”.
It’s an interesting subject, considering Ridge’s life: he and his twin brother were born premature, at only 24 weeks, and he weighed just over 600 grams at birth. Complications associated with such a early birth — he’s lucky to be alive at all — means Ridge has grown up with partial paralysis of his vocal cords and significant hearing loss.
“My mom and dad had optimistic attitudes on our survival — and the help and support we all received from doctors, nurses, family and friends all contributed to my optimism,” he said in his speech. “I believe I was born an optimistic person because I survived the odds.
“I use this optimism on a day-to-day basis to help me see things in a positive light.”
“He’s pretty confident, he’s optimistic and looks on the bright side of things,” confirms Ridge’s mother Yolanda. She says her soon practiced hard before entering the competition, but was reading far too fast. Things changed in Burnaby.
“When he went up on stage he was so much more relaxed he actually went over his five-minute limit by 19 seconds,” she says. “We thought he might be disquaified, we didnt’ know if he would win, so we were pleasantly surprised.”
Ridge shrugs. “When I got up on stage, my nervousness just sort of melted away,” he says.
Ridge was the first student from the district to ever win the Optimist’s competition.
It was a bit of a surprise Ridge was in the event at all. Usually students go to the competition and just watch the first year, to get a bead on the style and requirements. Then they attend the second year and actually write and perform a speech. But Ridge was having none of that, his mom says.
“He is more a do-er than observer,” she says. “He didn’t like the idea of sitting around watching people do things all day.”
“That would be boring,” says Ridge. “I felt everyone in the competition was kind of acting based on what they had seen others do before.”
Ridge’s quirky and engaging speech (you can see it on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJlGnmCUzW0) captured the judges’ attention, and the first-time entrant won the competition- beating out a Grade 12 student for the first prize. Despite this early success, he’s not planning for a career in public speaking.
“It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I don’t know if I would be able to replicate it,” he says. “I am thinking of doing it for the school talent show.”
For his efforts, Ridge won an iPad and a $2,500 scholarship. He’ll also get a trophy with his name engraved on it.
It won’t take him long to use the money. Already taking Grade 12 physics, the gifted student plans to take a course in calculus at Selkirk College next year- about six years early.
It’s hard to say how Ridge will do next year. But he will certainly go into it with the right attitude.
Excerpts from Ridge’s speech
Where are the roots of my optimism? Like a regular tree, my roots of optimism go down into the past. But I also have roots of optimism that go up into the future. The roots of my optimism stem from my premature birth, my ability to look at the world in a positive light, and my excitement for the promise of science and technology in the future.
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Some people think the world today is in a bad place, with terrorism, climate change and wars, but they forget that despite these problems the world has made huge progress. I think about the fact that there are less wars, less child labour and less capital punishment. We have abolished slavery, apartheid, and the criminalisation of homosexuality in most countries. And with advances in science it is possible that we may be able to reverse the effects of climate change, or at least learn to adapt to it.
Another example relates to certain leaders of the free world. Instead of focusing on how bad things are in some countries, I remind myself that there is only 2 ½ years until the next election and the chance for another leader — one who isn’t just another rich guy. Change will happen.
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As I already mentioned, roots don’t have to be what anchors you to the ground. My roots of optimism are in space, in science, in technology - in the future. This is MY happy place. When I think of the possibilities of things like space travel, I am optimistic that we can colonize another planet and explore places beyond earth. If there was a time machine I’d go into the future to see what the world will be like because I’m so excited about the potential.