Las Plumas senior wins Rotary district speech contest

OROVILLE – “Hope will always prevail.” That was the overriding and deeply personal message in Las Plumas High School senior Kalyn Peterson’s winning speech at the Rotary District 5180 Conference.

Peterson’s road to the district’s final competition began in March when she won the Oroville Rotary Club’s local competition and continued when she placed first in the district semi-finals in April. The second win propelled her to the district finals held at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada on May 18.

“My first reaction was disbelief,” said Peterson about hearing her name announced as the winner. “I competed against some amazing speakers. I looked at my mom and she had her head in her lap crying tears of joy. It was just an amazing, indescribable feeling.”

Peterson competed against the three other District 5180 semi-finalists, each of whom had won the district semi-final contests in their areas. District 5180 is comprised of approximately 48 Rotary clubs, including those in Oroville, Gridley, Yuba City, Marysville, Lincoln, Roseville and the Sacramento area.

Following the competition, the 18-year-old gave her speech during the conference luncheon and received a standing ovation from the approximately 500 people, according to Andrea Dunn, an Oroville Rotarian who attended the conference.

“I can’t remember a time, at least since I’ve been in Rotary, that we had a winner at the District-level,” said Dunn, an Oroville Rotarian since 2006. “This is our centennial year, so what a great time for an Oroville student to win at the District level.”

The theme for this year’s speech contest was, “Create Hope in the World,” a subject that resonated with Peterson.

Born with multiple congenital bone defects, which her parents were told would require having both of her legs amputated, Peterson spoke in her speech about the Shriners Children’s Hospital-Northern California surgeon, Dr. Joel Lerhman, who offered to perform a surgery that could save her legs.

“This surgery had never been performed on a child. At two years old, I received the surgery and it worked,” Peterson said in her speech. “Not only did Dr. Lerhamn’s actions inspire hope to my family and myself, but more importantly, it allowed hope to fill the lives of other children in the same situation who could now receive the same surgery.”

Peterson’s speech also addressed the hope that was born from her community’s tragedies, including the 2018 Camp Fire and the 2020 Bear Fire as well as the international misery the COVID pandemic brought.

These epic events plus her personal experience taught Peterson that, “Even in the worst of times, humanity has been able to hold onto hope … Tragedy is unavoidable when living life, however, it is something that cannot destroy hope. Hope will always prevail.”

Since her first surgery, the young woman has undergone eight more and another two will be necessary. But Peterson, who is in constant pain, said instead of discouraging her, contending with her physical disability has given her a purpose and an understanding that by being “kind you can be the start of someone else’s hope.”

Following graduation, Peterson plans to attend Chico State to study both political science and legal studies in preparation for law school. Her goal is to become a disabilities attorney.

“I have faced a lot of injustices in my life with my disabilities and I’ve had to learn to be an advocate for myself,” said Peterson. “It’s hard to know your rights but over the years, I’ve learned I have a voice. I want to be an advocate for others with disabilities but, more importantly, I want to show others how to advocate for themselves.”