Eighteen-year-old Santa Claran Samaira Mehta took the stage in Richmond, Va., in June as one of six high school finalists—out of 282—in Original Oratory at the 2026 National Speech & Debate Association Tournament.

She came home carrying a prestigious 2nd-place trophy.

Facing an in-person audience of about 2,000—plus online viewers—and 15 judges, Mehta spoke passionately and persuasively for ten minutes about an awkward and to many—particularly men—embarrassing topic: “Putting the MEN in MENstruation.”

“For far too long, we have normalized male ignorance towards menstruation,” said Mehta, advocating for legislation that brings coed menstrual education into schools in all 50 states.

In her speech, she examined how male ignorance about menstrual periods is often dismissed as harmless awkwardness. Yet this ignorance influences classrooms, prisons, workplaces, healthcare, investment decisions and the laws governing women’s bodies.

“The most meaningful part of this experience was being able to speak openly about something girls are often taught to hide,” said Mehta.

“Growing up, I was told that having my period made me too unclean to enter a temple. For years, that left me with a larger question: If my body could disqualify me from that small room, had the world already decided it disqualified me from bigger rooms, too?”

Mehta hopes that her speech will “encourage people, especially men and boys, to ask questions, listen without embarrassment, and stop treating menstruation as something women should quietly manage alone.”

“Ignorance survives when everyone is too uncomfortable to speak. Sometimes change begins with simply saying the word out loud,” said Mehta.

Menstruation.

“When one person changes, the world rearranges itself ever so slightly. And maybe that’s what we need. I’m going to be loud and fight to walk into the rooms I’m told I don’t belong.”

Mehta, a June graduate of Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose, is grateful to her speech coaching team and especially coach Karen Cruz for helping her become the school’s first national finalist in Original Oratory.

Her parents were in the audience for her final presentation at the National Speech & Debate Association Tournament.

“We are incredibly proud of Samaira, but not simply because she placed second in the nation. We are proud of the courage it took to speak so openly about a subject that is still treated with discomfort and silence,” said Mehta’s parents, Rakesh and Monica Mehta. “We saw the months of writing, practicing, losing, revising and beginning again that came before those ten minutes on stage.”

“Sama Crushes the Code”

Mehta is a writer as well as an orator. In July, she launched “Sama Crushes the Code,” a graphic novel to encourage young readers to picture their own place in technology.

“Both [my oratory speech and the book] began from the same Santa Clara journey: a kid who started with a [coding] board game, a family and community that encouraged her, and a belief that young people can build things that matter,” said Mehta.

“I understand that even the best idea cannot help anyone if you cannot explain it, defend it and make people care.”

Now a freshman at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore on a four-year Hodson Trust merit scholarship, Mehta will study computer science, exploring computational medicine and the intersection of artificial intelligence, biology and healthcare.

“We try not to give our children a definition of success,” said Mehta’s parents. “We encourage them to find work they genuinely care about, give it their full effort and remain grounded in how they treat people along the way.

“Both Samaira and her [younger] brother, Aadit, are very driven, but our role is often to remind them that they do not have to prove their worth through an award or achievement.”