Senior Ervin Bonilla dropped to his knees shouting. These judges sat across from him, unblinking as Ervin cried out with tears streaming.

The performance crushed. The judges awarded first and seconds-place ranks in every round – nearly a perfect score – but his tears were real. 

Overwhelmed with emotion, Ervin called his speech and debate inspiration that night: his sister and Class of 2024 graduate, Cristina Bonilla. They talked, laughed, cried and then the phone hung up.

The federal detention center she answered from ended their conversation early.

Ervin cried again that night, as Cristina entered her fourth month incarcerated.

With Cristina in his heart that weekend, Ervin qualified in POI – Program Oral Interpretation – at the Yellow Rose District qualifier on Feb. 13 and will compete in Richmond, Virginia at the National Speech and Debate Association National Tournament from June 13-20.

“Qualifying means more in a way of giving back to the people who gave back so much to me,” Ervin said, “like my sister and (assistant coach Stephen) Green – people who push me so much to be better. The happiest I felt after I won was calling to tell my sister.”

Guidance

Ervin was born and raised in the Conroe High School feeder zone. While his family was reserved, Ervin stood out as an artsy, outgoing kid.

But before he learned to use his own voice, he listened to others.

“I loved hearing speeches growing up,” Ervin said. “You just hear so much emotion. I feel like so many people feel like they can’t be vulnerable in front of anyone unless they earn it.”

When Cristina moved in with Ervin at 6 years old, her personality contrasted his outwardness. She was shy, struggling with her voice. That’s where Ervin and Cristina bonded.

“Just because I was more outspoken than her, she was like, ‘Oh, he’s gonna get something done,’” Ervin said. “And we went from never talking to knowing everything about each other, sharing a room, always being with each other. We became connected at the hip.

Cristina enrolled at Caney Creek High School her freshman year in 2020 as the first in her family to attend high school. While Cristina thought she went unnoticed, her teachers disagreed.

“She was always the kind of kid, that every day was a good day,” Cristina’s U.S. History and Holocaust studies teacher Eric Tanner said. “You know people, they have good days and bad days. With her, it was like every day was good. She was really in a good mood.”

Cristina paved her path through high school that Ervin followed behind. She looked up to him for his voice. He looked up to her as his only mentor. In Ervin’s first year – which was Cristina’s senior year – she inspired him to take Debate 1. 

“She was like, ‘No one ever taught me, so I want to teach you,’” Ervin said. “So when she was done with high school, she said ‘Here’s all the stuff I wish I could have done so that you can do it.”

But when she graduated in 2024, Ervin had to learn to pave his own path – which he said can be difficult as a minority.

Finding his Voice

Alone, Ervin stuck to the thing he knew best: speaking up. Sophomore year, he found his place on the speech and debate’s prose and poetry team.

“I feel like performing and communicating and just like public speaking in general is something that I can show is my talent,” Ervin said. “Speeches are the one time you feel you can be vulnerable.”

Without Cristina Ervin found more bonds. Class of ‘25 graduate Camila Blancas, who introduced him to interpretation events, said his drive stood out.

“He, surprisingly, was very shy when I first met him,” Camila said. “Interp definitely pushed him out of that because it forces you to do things that are embarrassing. And so once he got over that, he started becoming a much stronger speaker.”

While Ervin was alone at school, Cristina remained Ervin’s best friend outside of academics.

“Even though we didn’t hang out as much, anything I did meant something to her as well,” Ervin said. “Winning a tournament – she prided herself in that too. My accomplishments were her accomplishments too.”

Missing Half and Reintroduction

But Oct. 17, Ervin lost Cristina from home too. 

As Ervin headed to Atascocita High School for a tournament, two federal agents entered the shell gas station Cristina worked at. They had a warrant to arrest her for an on-going legal investigation. 

The men chained her by the feet and hands and hauled her to detention.

“She said it felt worse than anything she’d ever been through,” Ervin said. “Because she didn’t even feel like a criminal, she said she felt like an animal.”

In the waves of grief following Cristina’s arrest, Ervin turned to the same safe haven he’s held for the past four years: speech and debate, plunging into his performances.

“It felt more like a reintroduction to speech,” Ervin said. “My whole attitude towards everything that wasn’t to do with my sister had changed.

So I had to learn how to continue living without holding myself back because I felt bad my sister’s not here to experience this.”

In his first tournament since Cristina’s detainment at Grand Oaks High School, Ervin won his first POI medal in the Grand Oaks invitational tournament he initially planned to miss.

“I felt like I needed speech and debate at that moment,” Ervin said. “I just wanted to have fun, and I wanted to do something that doesn’t have to do with what’s going on. And to win was shocking, especially since the tournament before I flopped so hard.”

But as Ervin’s POI skills strengthened, his family’s stability wavered. His family failed to make payments, drowning in over $5,000 of lawyer fees, and lenders repossessed Cristina’s Jeep – one she gifted him to drive to and from his tournaments.

“It felt like the last piece of my sister was gone,” Ervin said.

Independence

He hit rock bottom and lost his ride home. Ervin quit speech and debate just a week before the national qualifier at College Station High School. The debate coaches removed Ervin from the tournament the next day, understanding Ervin’s situation.

“Feeling like my speech and debate career was ending so abruptly hurt so much,” Ervin said. “This is the way I express my art for these three years I’ve done it, and to feel that I don’t even get the satisfaction to end it the way I wanted it to. It really hurt.”

Quitting made homelife tense. He lost his mental escape, and their mother struggled with grief. The tension erupted into an argument with his mother; Ervin came to a realization: Cristina wants him to pursue his passion for speech even without her at home.

“I felt bad living because she couldn’t,” Ervin said. “The mindset that I literally carried until that day I was like, ‘Why am I doing this? You wouldn’t even want me to do this to myself.’ I was just choosing to be unhappy on this Earth.”

Ervin set aside his shame and wrote another letter to Green, this time requesting to rejoin the team. He was rehearsing again the next day. One week before the national qualifier.

“Ervin picked a piece that means something to him and committed to it,” Green said. “Put in the hard work despite overwhelming issues going on, and then crossed the finish line and didn’t just do it barely. He basically lapped the field.”

Standing on the stage, Ervin thought back to the hours of sweat, bruises and grief that led him there.

“I dedicate my win to Green because, if it wasn’t for him,” Ervin said, “I probably wouldn’t even be on the team anymore. He’s the one who worked, last minute, that whole piece with me.”

Ervin called Cristina the same day excited with his win. But watching her health decline the past months, Ervin doubts if Cristina’s bond is worth the battle anymore, especially with their financial stability worsening.

“I can tell how hard it is for her to be in there, mentally,” Ervin said. “She cries a lot, even after four months, she’s still crying. She doesn’t eat many of the things because they make her sick. Everyone in there with her says she’s losing a lot of weight.”

Ervin’s goal this summer at nationals is to advance past the elimination rounds, for both him and his sister.

“I just want to have something to show for real,” Ervin said. “Legacy feels like such a big thing. My teammates and my sister’s legacy changed my life, so to leave an impact on my team after I leave. I think she’d be proud. I think she’s a part of everything I do.”