Senior Mackenzie Birkey has been a member of the SHS Forensics team for the past 4 years and is currently at the peak of her career.

Forensics, or ‘4N6’, is competitive speaking and acting. The team practices different speeches every day from 20 categories. On Saturdays, there are competitions and the ultimate goal is to qualify for Nationals. Birkey joined her Freshman year while her cousin was on the team and recommended it to her. “I always liked theatre and I thought it was another thing that I could do and enjoy.” Birkey said.

In June, Birkey was at the NFL Nationals and advanced to the quarterfinals. She was ranked top 30 in the nation, which is something that a student from South hasn’t done in awhile. She ended up placing 26th.

All of Birkey’s hard work is starting to pay off. She got an audition after Nationals for Western Kentucky University, whose 4N6 team is currently ranked 2nd in collegiate forensics. After sending a video performing to the coach, he asked her to come audition in person. She toured the school and auditioned as only the 4th auditioner. Birkey was told she wouldn’t hear from them until at least December as there were so many auditioners.

Birkey got an email from the Coach in early September saying she is the first on the roster, and doesn’t need to see the rest of the applicants. As a new member of their forensics team, Western Kentucky University is Birkey’s top choice school.

South High pride is shown when students, such as Birkey, put in the extra effort to make their goals reality. “Putting the extra hours into your passions pays off in the end and doing something that some people may not consider cool or think is weird doesn’t mean you couldn’t be successful.” Birkey said.

One of Birkey’s forensics coaches, Mr. Ben Kroll, says that she is an asset to the team. “She cares about making the team the best it can be, as well as herself. She knows she won’t always win; she takes the set backs as strides and doesn’t let them get to her.” By being her own person and pursuing her goals, Birkey has made a future out of something she loves. “I got an opportunity a lot of people would only correlate with sports and its something big that happened.”

Story and Photo By Sara Becker