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Student's speech wins Japanese Toyama Cup
The Advocate
MHCC student Victoria Leca was a first-place winner in the Toyama Cup Speech Contest Sunday in Portland.
“I wasn’t expecting to win,” Leca said. “I went into it thinking that the experience alone would be enough.”
The contest was held at the World Trade Center in Portland to honor the Oregon and Toyama sister-state relationship.
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Shinobu Chrisman, MHCC modern language tutor, said, “She did great. We are all so proud of her.”
Contestants are put through a preliminary process that included submitting an English essay answering the question “How would you improve the relationship between Oregon and Toyama?”
Leca knew she wanted to participate in the contest for about a month before the event. She wrote the English essay and submitted it to the committee, then waited.
“I wrote my speech even though I didn’t know if I would be accepted,” said Leca. “I met with Shinobu and my Japanese instructor, Yoko Sato, and they helped me organize my ideas, figure out exactly what I wanted to talk about, and the grammar and pronunciation.”
Born in Romania, Leca moved to America five years ago. Over a span of four and a half years, she has learned English, become fluent in Japanese and learned some Spanish. She said she practiced her speech for her Japanese class with her parents and by herself.
The speech Leca gave at the contest was about the similarities of Oregon and Toyama and the important relationship between the two.
“They were announcing the second-, third- and even fourth-place winners and I was thinking, ‘Why aren’t they calling my name?’ because I knew I couldn’t have done that bad,” said Leca.
Leca placed first in the Division I (lower division), which is designed for students who have less than two years of Japanese study. The upper division is for students with more than two years of Japanese study and the grand prize of a round trip to Toyama, Japan, is reserved for that winner. Leca won a Nintendo DS, a couple of educational CDs and a manga (Japanese comic book).
Leca said, “Oregon has a very large Japanese population and the consulate general is in Portland. People should try to immerse themselves in the culture and make the Japan/Oregon relationship stronger.”
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