Arham Habib is a senior at Monte Vista High School in Danville, California. He has been competing at speech and debate tournaments for five years......
SUCCESS STORY
Arham Habib is a young Pakistani American who grew up in San Francisco. His parents transferred to him their love for Pakistan, and this young man wants to do something for the Pakistani youth.
Arham Habib is a senior at Monte Vista High School in Danville, California. He has been competing at speech and debate tournaments for five years and was placed 2nd in the state of California and 9th in the USA National Championship. During his sophomore year, he created an organization, Voices of the Future, with the goal of granting others the opportunity to learn and participate in speech and debate tournaments. At first, Voices of the Future worked alongside elementary schools in the San Ramon Valley Unified School District (SRVUSD)-California, teaching 3rd-5th graders the basics of public speaking and argumentation. This elementary programme was expanded to four schools in the SRVUSD and so far, over 150 students have attended this programme. The programme was recognized for exemplary leadership, both by the SRVUSD and the United States House of Representatives, who awarded a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition. Later, the programme expanded to Pakistan, a nation that, until now, hasn’t been able to participate in the National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA), largely due to the financial burden of travel and competition.
Last year, Arham began coaching students at Beacon Light Academy, located in Karachi, Pakistan, the basics of speech and debate. All the students had potential, but not the resources to translate that to competitive success. To give these students a voice on the world platform, he knew he had to change that. He contacted the Victory Briefs Institute (VBI) and the Institute for Speech and Debate (ISD): two organizations that further train students for competitions. With them, he was able to negotiate a partial scholarship for two students from Beacon Light Academy: Muhammad Anique and Aira Gabol. Through contacting a variety of businesses across the Bay Area, he was able to raise the $10,000 to sponsor the travel, lodging, and the rest of the tuition for these students. Between July 14th and 26th, the students were able to study, practice, and compete alongside members of the National Speech and Debate Association, the largest speech and debate organization in the world.
Now, the challenge ahead is to bring these students back to the United States for high-profile tournaments. His goal is to invite students from Pakistan to the Stanford Invitational and the Cal Invitational (at U.C. Berkeley), both of which are to be held in February of 2020.
We wish good luck to Arham in his endeavours!
Arham Habib can be reached at arham.habib@gmail.com.
