Elijah Bass, \u201925, is leading from the front and inspiring others as he steps on stage with a purpose\u2014and a message to share.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An active-duty Marine and psychology major, Bass took a course with Sean Fourney, Ph.D., director of the Patricia P. McArver Public Speaking Lab, to help prepare for the inaugural Lowcountry Speaking Invitational, where students shared personal speeches on stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The class focused not only on workshopping speeches and preparing students for competition, but also on the fundamentals of event planning\u2014from building relationships with local businesses and sponsors to advertising the event. Bass and his fellow students went to Ashley Hall, a private girls\u2019 school, to encourage young students to become involved in public speaking. \u201cWe played games to help them gain confidence,\u201d said Bass. When it comes to public speaking, confidence is the name of the game. \u201cIt\u2019s stressful, but once you do it, once you\u2019re on stage telling your story, you feel that people know you better, and you just become so much more confident,\u201d said Bass. \u201cWho you are\u2014and what you are capable of\u2014shines with the lights on the stage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bass\u2019 own speech is based on his experience as The Citadel\u2019s first active-duty football player. Bass walked onto the team after a lengthy break from the sport, having last played in the seventh grade. His speech, \u201cZero and Eleven,\u201d refers to the Bulldogs\u2019 2023 season record. For Bass, failure is only the beginning of the journey. \u201cYour record doesn\u2019t define who you are; it primes you,\u201d said Bass. \u201cThere are so many things that we\u2019ve all failed at. But when you walk into the environment after a loss, you don\u2019t recognize the failure. What you see is growth. Smooth seas never made for experienced sailors.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Elijah Bass, \u201925, is leading from the front and inspiring others as he steps on stage with a purpose\u2014and a message to share. An active-duty Marine and psychology major, Bass took a course with Sean Fourney, Ph.D., director of the Patricia P. McArver Public Speaking Lab, to help prepare for the inaugural Lowcountry Speaking Invitational, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":694,"featured_media":221,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other"],"yoast_head":"\n