This past weekend, I had my last Debate Tournament ever.
I really didn't feel that emotional during the time. I was exhausted and ready for a nap. I drifted through the rest of that day with a feeling of complete ignorance ... it didn't feel like a last. It just felt like another one in many.
I'll admit that I spent the bulk of my senior year on Debate. Had you told me that I would have invested so much of my time and effort in Debate at the beginning of the year, I would have laughed in your face. I had no idea how important this activity would become to me in the course of one year.
Let me back track a bit - I joined Debate in junior year with my friend Anjali when the two of us didn't make the Science Olympiad team. As novices, we didn't really know what we were doing. The debate jargon we would learn this year was still perplexing, and we spent many speeches reading off our block files. There was so much about debate - and a basic argument - that we didn't yet understand. We still did pretty well as novices, but none of the things we learned really stuck.
Now transitioning onto this year, that was all subject to change. We switched roles from last year (I was first speaker last year, and I became second speaker this year). This change alone was daunting - I was now giving two speeches on the whim. Being second speaker came with the added responsibility of knowing the evidence off of the top of our heads, and that resulted in actually caring about the prep we did. We didn't even have a block file as novices - we just had many different documents with pasted documents. For the first time, I wrote a block file with argument titles. I used words such as 'outweigh', 'delink', 'turn', and more. I cut cards, I linked them, I learned how to use a table of contents, and I basically just learned how to actually do debate.
These were just the first few steps among many. I found myself poring hours over my computer, combing through the Internet until almost every link I came across turned purple from already visiting the site, and lengthening my block file until I was satisfied (though I never was). As the pages in my blocks grew, I felt my confidence and satisfaction lengthen with it. I felt prepared, knowledgeable, and ready to debate with my foundation of evidence already set. And this hard work paid off - the more tournaments that Anjali and I went to, the higher we would place - it was like a ladder that we were slowly but surely climbing. My flows were colorful with all my evidence and responses, and my rebuttals and final focuses were delivered without stutter. I still didn't know how to weigh - think of me as a machine that spouted out contradictory statistics to the opposing team's arguments - but I loved it nonetheless. And our work did pay off - I remember the first time placing in a Debate Tournament, and earning a bid along with it as well. And this wouldn't be the first time - we placed and bid one more time, and it felt as if we were on top of the world. The bar had been set low for us this season, because everyone knew we were novices, but to earn a place on the OSDA bid sheet and bring home a trophy was enough to completely satiate me in that moment. Anjali and I have never broken at a tournament, but I did learn how to weigh! (At this year's State Tournament.)
Looking back, it's not the achievements we made in Debate, it's how much we grew that makes me truly proud. I remember lying widely awake the night before the Princeton Tournament - the first tournament of the season, the first time I would be giving rebuttals. And now, to sleeping soundly before the State Tournament, knowing how to articulate my arguments and how to analyze them as well. Anjali and I aren't the best debators in our district, nor are we the best in the State. But our growth in the course of one year has made me incredibly hopeful for the future and whatever endeavor we conquer next.
And that brings me back to the State Tournament this past weekend. It all went by in a blur (though at times, it did feel incredibly long). I spent many, many weekends at Debate Tournaments my senior year. It resulted in pushing back plans with friends and feeling as if my eyeballs were going to bleed as I sat for hours on end in front of my computer screen, but it was all so, so worth it. I got to fully invest in something that I love - debating - and see the returns because of it. I now understand how an argument functions, not only in debate but in the rest of society - I understand the link between the claim and the evidence, the analysis that separates one argument from another, and more. I finally learned what a warrant is, what weighing is, and yet, I still have so much to learn. Debating is a skill I will carry with me way past high school. It's something I'll use in the work place, school, home, and much more. I'm so happy I got to refine this skill through this extracurricular.
Not only were Debate Tournaments a time to develop my oral skills, but they were also venues of new people. I met other debators who were just as passionate about the program as I am. I met people who devote much more time to this extracurricular I do, and I marveled at their success as a result. I met new friends and strengthened my bonds with my current Debate friends. I watched some of the most smart and articulate people I have ever heard during the final State rounds, and I learned so much just from witnessing them. As a result, I know that not only will I miss the actual debating - I will miss the people I met along the way as well. Even though we don't know each other as well as we know our home town friends, it's still sad to think that this past weekend was the last time I was going to see many of those people.
As the Debate chapter of my life closes, I know that it has only paved the way for new beginnings. The skills I've learned from this program will only serve to strengthen me in others. Even though I was only involved in Debate for two years, I learned so much and made so many good memories. :)
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