What happened to freshman Ambria Benesch that left her literally  “screaming and jumping up and down and laughing”? On March 17, Benesch learned that she had won the Student of the Year award for novice debate.

According to Katie Gjerpen, head debate coach, the award goes to a strong leader, role model, and overall good person who can benefit the community. “As you may already know, this is the first year Niles North has had a competitive debate program. Thus, unlike participants in  many other programs in Illinois, Ambria hasn’t had older team members to offer support or guidance in her development, which I think is an incredibly helpful resource and support system for younger debaters. Because of this, her strength as a leader on Niles North’s young team has not only been impressive, but also invaluable to me as a coach,” Gjerpen said.

Each Illinois school with a debate program selects one debater to nominate for the student of the year award. The Committee of Illinois Communication and Theater Association(ICTA) then selects from the nominees.  The committee is composed of teachers and other educators. Because North’s debate program is brand new,  Benesch is the first Viking to win the honor. “It’s really exciting,” Gjerpen says, because traditionally the award has gone to a student who is involved in a very big debate program, “It speaks volumes that the community chose her.”

Benesch learned that she won the award when Gjerpen called her. “At first I thought I was in trouble. Then I got really surprised, and even asked ‘ Are you sure you’re talking to the right person?’’ Once Benesch had confirmed that she indeed had won the award, she literally jumped for joy. The award presentation ceremony was Friday, April 27.

The debate team went to 19 tournaments this year, and Benesch attended 17 of them. Most debates last about two hours and students may have four in a row. That’s a huge time commitment, but to a lot of debaters it only feels like 20 minutes. “It’s like a gigantic adrenalin rush,” Benesch says. ” You leave debate with your hands literally shaking, but when you win it feels so good. And the cool thing about debate is that anyone can do it. When I started out I wasn’t as good as half the people [in the program].”

Well, look at where all that hard work got her.