Thirty students participated in the final round of the 2018 Hinckley Institute of Politics (HIP) Talks Competition, which was held at the David Eccles School of Business. This year’s event was of particular significance for the Eccles School, with Full-Time MBA student Karina Rivera securing the Grand Prize for her talk entitled “Don’t Cry Little Girl!”

“One of the biggest lessons that has shaped my life was when I moved to the U.S. as a 12-year-old. On my first day of middle school, not only did I experience fear and anxiety, but also bullying and racism,” Rivera said. “As I approach my MBA graduation, I wanted to pay tribute to my mother and to that distraught little girl that learned to be brave … I wanted to pay tribute to that 12-year-old because she is still the driving force in my life.”

The finale was held in the Bill and Pat Child Family Community Hall in the Spencer Fox Eccles Business Building with hundreds of students, professors and community members in attendance.

The Hinckley Institute of Politics (HIP) Talks is sponsored by the Hinckley Institute of Politics, Congressman Wayne Owens Fund and Associated Students of the University of Utah. HIP Talks seeks to foster public speaking skills on campus through a university-wide speech competition.