New Degrees
Each time a student earns a new degree of merit, we take the opportunity to celebrate them and all they’ve accomplished so far in their speech & debate careers. Please join us in congratulating the following students for their hard work and success! Students in bold have earned their first degrees of merit and have become lifetime members of the NSDA!
December 2017
| Student | Degree |
| Katherine Hu | Distinction |
| Jacqueline Wu | Honor |
| Uday Kolla | Honor |
September 2017
October 2017
| Student | Degree |
| Paul Ward | Excellence |
| Bryn Bennett | Premier Distinction |
September 2017
| Student | Degree |
| Julia Yan | Excellence |
| Arnan Ullah | Honor |
| Ibrahim Syed | Honor |
| Katie Sidebotham | Honor |
| Rahul Raiyani | Honor |
| Katherine Hu | Excellence |
| Julien Guillory | Honor |
April 2017
| Student | Degree |
| Lara Heinlein | Honor |
March 2017
| Student | Degree |
| Jake Wichansky | Distinction |
| Emma Baxter | Merit |
| Braedyn Speight | Honor |
| Jess Wattman | Excellence |
| Aaron Alemi | Honor |
| Lauren Spencer | Distinction |
| Varsha Thampi | Merit |
| Naomi Gonzalez | Honor |
| Allison Wu | Excellence |
| Caitlyn Dempsey | Superior Distinction |
| Shefali Das | Superior Distinction |
| Tyler Harper | Honor |
| Renee Shen | Distinction |
| Josephine Wu | Honor |
February 2017
| Student | Degree |
| Samantha Tassillo | Honor |
| Uday Kolla | Merit |
| Shefali Das | Special Distinction |
| Claudia Pietrus | Distinction |
| Julien Guillory | Merit |
| Stephanie Yeung | Merit |
| Brandon Luong | Excellence |
| Simran Kakkar | Honor |
| Julia Yan | Honor |
| Felicity Gonzalez | Honor |
| Mallika Ravi | Honor |
| Paul Ward | Honor |
| Gitanjali Iyer | Excellence |
| Jenna Manderioli | Merit |
| Katherine Hu | Honor |
January 2017
| Student | Degree |
| Rahul Raiyani | Merit |
| Amy Pu | Superior Distinction |
| Doug Jackson | Merit |
| Allison Wu | Merit |
| Jaqueline Wu | Merit |
| Paul Ward | Merit |
| Lara Heinlein | Merit |
| Claire Zou | Distinction |
| Brenna McConnell | Merit |
| Katie Sidebotham | Merit |
| Josephine Wu | Merit |
| Allison Wu | Honor |
| Michael Papayianis | Merit |
| Katherine Hu | Merit |
| Amanda Bloom | Merit |
December 2016
| Student | Degree |
| Ibrahim Syed | Merit |
| Arnan Ullah | Merit |
| Izzie Malkani | Merit |
| Aaron Alemi | Merit |
| Simran Kakkar | Merit |
| Claudia Pietrus | Excellence |
| Julia Yan | Merit |
| Felicity Gonzalez | Merit |
| Tyler Harper | Merit |
| Jess Wattman | Honor |
| Nicole Nissel | Distinction |
November 2016
| Student | Degree |
| Kathryn Altman | Distinction |
| Caitlyn Dempsey | Special Distinction |
| Lauren Spencer | Excellence |
| Braedyn Speight | Merit |
| Sabrina Hu | Excellence |
October 2016
| Student | Degree |
| Sam Halpern | Distinction |
| Jordan Pontelandolfo | Distinction |
| Mallika Ravi | Merit |
| Braedyn Speight | Merit |
| Renee Shen | Excellence |
| Jay Domalewski | Honor |
September 2016
| Student | Degree |
| Bryn Bennett | Outstanding Distinction |
| Nicole Nissel | Excellence |
| Stephen Hu | Honor |
July 2016
| Student | Degree |
| Rachana Chilakapati | Honor |
March 2016
| Student | Degree |
| Monique Bourgeois | Merit |
| Gitanjali Iyer | Honor |
| Renee Shen | Honor |
| Anya Mausoof | Merit |
| Rachel Loia | Special Distinction |
| Alyssa Spagnuolo | Special Distinction |
| Claudia Pietrus | Honor |
| Kathryn Altman | Excellence |
| Kara Sevola | Special Distinction |
| Abha Walter | Honor |
| Emily Wang | Outstanding Distinction |
February 2016
| Student | Degree |
| Bryn Bennett | Superior Distinction |
| Kathryn Altman | Honor |
| Renee Shen | Merit |
| Sam Halpern | Excellence |
| Amy Pu | Special Distinction |
| Jake Wichansky | Excellence |
| Ashley Huang | Distinction |
| Abby McElroy | Distinction |
| Nikhil Naik | Excellence |
| Harry Kern | Outstanding Distinction |
| Jordan Pontelandolfo | Excellence |
| Noah Taylor | Special Distinction |
January 2016
| Student | Degree |
| Gavin Renken | Merit |
| Nicole Nissel | Merit |
| Claudia Pietrus | Merit |
| Caitlyn Dempsey | Distinction |
| Victoria Lofaro | Honor |
December 2015
| Student | Degree |
| Daniel Kim | Honor |
| Emily Wang | Superior Distinction |
| Jordan Pontelandolfo | Honor |
| Gitanjali Iyer | Merit |
| Kelyn Chen | Merit |
| Lex Constantinides | Excellence |
| Brandon Luong | Honor |
| Kathryn Altman | Merit |
| Jason Gu | Merit |
| Neha Sippy | Merit |
| Jordyn Michaels | Distinction |
| Helen Spyropoulos | Excellence |
November 2015
| Student | Degree |
| James Domalewski | Merit |
| Stephen Hu | Merit |
| Abha Walter | Merit |
| Caitlyn Dempsey | Excellence |
| Harry Kern | Superior Distinction |
October 2015
| Student | Degree |
| Bryn Bennett | Special Distinction |
| Ashley Huang | Excellence |
| Sabrina Hu | Honor |
| Corey Jaffa | Excellence |
| Nikhil Naik | Honor |
| Lauren Spencer | Honor |
NSDA Degrees of Honor 
