A World of Wins
San Diego Mesa College’s Speech and Debate team has the best record among colleges
in international tournaments.
Here’s a glance at the team’s first place wins over the years:
- 2025: Incheon, South Korea
- 2019: Berlin, Germany
- 2013: Antwerp, Belgium
- 2010: Berlin, Germany
- 2008: London, England
“It’s a fast and furious program that teaches students how to be confident, how to take critical feedback, and how to lose,” said Kim Perigo, who co-directs the Speech and Debate team with fellow professor Bryan Malinis. “Losing is an important part of winning — that’s what we always say.”
The Speech and Debate team serves about 25 students each semester with the support of three to four coaches. Team members come from a wide range of academic disciplines, including premed, prelaw, communication, and chemistry, and compete on national and international stages. Along the way, they develop abilities that support them in their careers and beyond, Perigo said.
Perigo knows firsthand the impact the program can have. She was a speech and debate team member herself.
“It was the greatest gift I gave myself as a student,” Perigo said. “Every advantage I’ve gotten in my life — everything of value — I can directly link to my time on the speech and debate team.”
Today, Perigo, who has co directed the team since 2005, aims to give every student
who joins what she calls a “full service experience.”
This year, the team competed in an international tournament in Athens, Greece, a setting
deeply connected to the origins of speech and debate in ancient Greek philosophy.
After discussing thinkers such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle in class, students
sat among the ruins of Plato’s Academy and stood where Aristotle’s lyceum once existed.
There they read Greek philosophy and explored artifacts that brought history to life.
“You can talk about the Acropolis, you can show pictures, but there is nothing like seeing it live,” Perigo said. “We can’t do this for every student, but we need to do it for as many as we can. It is truly life changing.”
Perigo said opportunities like this reflect the college’s broader commitment to providing
exceptional educational experiences. She added that developing a global perspective
is essential not only for success in competition, but also for preparing students
to be engaged citizens at home and beyond.
Josh Lewis, a communications major, is one student benefiting from that full service
approach. Lewis served in the U.S. Marines before attending Mesa College and joined
the Speech and Debate team last year to improve his public speaking skills.
“This team gave me a purpose and a support system while on campus,” Lewis said. “My life has significantly improved since last May, and the Speech and Debate team deserves a lot of credit for that.”
This school year, Lewis earned awards for a speech addressing suicide rates among service members, a topic shaped by personal experience.
“I have lost friends to this epidemic, and last May I almost took my own life,” Lewis said. “My sisters saved my life. I got more help, so, I wanted to raise awareness and get others involved in saving veterans’ lives.”
Kyle Picar, who changed her major from biology to communications after joining the Speech and Debate team last year, is also making an impact beyond competition. She recently traveled to Sacramento with the team, where she spoke with lawmakers about pending legislation.
“No one ever taught me how to reach out to my representatives, talk to them in person, and hold them accountable,” Picar said. “Through my coaches’ guidance, I’ve learned to be more confident and more knowledgeable about policy changes. Those experiences have encouraged me to question and challenge ideas, consider new perspectives, and stand my ground.”
Like Lewis, Picar said the relationships she has built through the team have positively shaped her life.
“I am so grateful to have found a community where I belong,” she said. “That can be hard sometimes, especially at a community college.”
With the abilities students gain, the sky is the limit.
“Our students have gone on to outstanding universities,” Perigo said. “We have one who attended Johns Hopkins and later transferred to Harvard Law School. Students consistently tell us that one of the most discussed aspects of their Mesa years is their speech and debate experience — whether in transfer and graduate school applications or during job searches.”
For individuals facing a crisis or looking for help, please call the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 or go to 988lifeline.org for chat services.