STEVEN ARNOLD
Staff Writer
The average undergraduate student at Pepperdine University may only recognize Francesca Smith by one simple phrase. “Move it football head!” the coined phrase of Helga G. Pataki, a character on the popular Nickelodeon cartoon series “Hey Arnold.” Smith voiced the cold yet emotional character, noted for her lament-filled adolescent monologues.
Smith, a first-year graduate student at Pepperdine along with fellow student Gavin Humes, were recently selected by the Committee for International Discussion and Debate as the United States representative for the 2007 British Isles tour. The tour runs through mid-March.
“The tour is not entirely about competition, but rather about representing the United States and building ties between various countries,” said Smith. Each team will compete in four normal British intervarsity debate tournaments, each announcing a winning team. However, more than half of their time will be spent attending workshops, speaking in showcases such as the Oxford Union debate and American Embassy Debate.
Smith has worked as a professional actress and dancer since the age of 3, calling herself a performer at heart. As performing rests in her heart, the stage runs through her veins with her father and brother both heavily involved in the backstage aspect of the film industry for many years
The film industry gave Smith a sense of fun and fulfillment in a business in which few succeed.
As she progressed through an independent study program, her ability to speak publicly developed beyond her years as she began competing locally. As she continued to strengthen her talents she attended Moorpark College, the top community college speech and debate program in the nation, winning state and national awards for parliamentary debate, impromptu speaking, communication analysis and dramatic interpretation.
The Bend, Ore., native transferred to Stanford after her sophomore year to continue her undergraduate work. She excelled in the linguistics department of the university, winning various competitions and receiving invitations to speak at many highly regarded engagements.
She then developed a close relationship with Professor Isabelle Buchstaller, a visiting professor for the program. Buchstaller challenged Smith constantly, urging her to submit various works and to further stretch her comfort zone. Buchstallers counsel gave Smith the opportunity to travel to England to speak at the revered Cambridge University Linguistics Press Conference, Smith was the only undergraduate invited to speak.
In 2004, Smith was awarded the Bovero-Tabor award at Phi Rho Pi Nationals as the top speaker in the nation, in addition to helping her team win state and national championships that year. After achieving so much from competition, Smith began teaching in the oral communication program at Stanford, eventually going on to direct the Speech and Debate program at The Calder Academy, a small school in the San Francisco area.
“Not only did I get to learn just as much as the students, I was also given an unbelievable opportunity to teach and critique sophomores in their public speaking, critical thinking, and presentational abilities.”, said Smith. “This certainly helped instill in me a love of teaching speech, I really love teaching, and particularly coaching in the debate community.”
While traveling on the British Isles Tour, Smith has already realized many dreams and goals. Most recently she gained the opportunity to debate at the Oxford Union considered as one of the more challenging debate venues in the world with past speakers including Richard Nixon and Kermit the Frog. “It was a truly incredible experience to have such people really listen to what I had to say, and to be able to passionately advocate for something I feel strongly about in such a magnificent environment.”
Smith is now a graduate student at Pepperdine University, applying for her master’s degree while coaching speech and debate close to her home in Westlake. “My master’s degree, in my mind, really serves two purposes,”, she explained. “First, it will allow the opportunity to continue coaching and get paid for it should I want to do so in the future,”, Smith continued. “However, it has also provided me with the opportunity to coach more substantially for a nationally competitive team and do a sort of test run of that lifestyle to see if it’s something I want to spend the rest of my life doing.”
Smith owns a wide array of talents, giving her many options for the future. “I will likely stay in coaching for at least some time. However, I do miss acting quite a bit, and will almost for sure go back into the industry before too long, as well.” Smith continued “I’m also on the board of directors for a local theater company, which sponsors performances and workshops in the area, and I’d very much like to see that grow larger as the years progress.”
Smith will continue on the tour until mid-March, after which returning to Pepperdine to advance towards her master’s degree. We wish both Francesca and Gavin the best of luck on the tour as they continue to represent our country and our University as a whole.
03-19-2007