The Debate Team has shaped its members in numerous ways. Finding the right fit at such a big school has been a challenge for many Reedy students.
“Debate helped me to become a better public speaker. Before I joined I was super nervous about public speaking and I would get super anxious before I did it,” senior Shifa Haq said.”This has definitely helped me come out of my shell and learn to be more confident in that.”
Debate has not only been a way of connecting with other students but has also taught its members valuable life lessons.
“Some skills I’ve learned would be confidence and public speaking,” senior Airlia Vivekanand said. “Becoming better in those skills really helped me throughout debate.”
To make a compelling performance, the speech teams always try to choose something that they’re passionate about. Members said this makes the process much easier. As for debate, topics are chosen for them by the competition officials.
“For me, I just choose something that hits close to home. Whether that be a problem, aspiration, or whatever,” senior and Debate Team Captain Scarlett Sweckard said. “Something that resonates with me because prose is a performance-based competition, and so finding things that are important to you makes it a lot easier to perform.”
Not everything can be perfect all of the time in debate. When our team loses a round they try to not let it get to them and instead try and learn from their past experiences and they’ve learned to prevail past adversity.
“Losing rounds sometimes discourages you, but it really motivates you to do better next time. And I feel like I’ve learned a lot from rounds I’ve lost,” Vivekanand said. “It really made me grow into the person I’ve become.”
The debate team also has a very tight knit community, with there being no hard feelings between competitors. The team captains do everything they can to prepare the novices for the sport.
“I let the novices reach me, I give them my number,” Sweckard said. “Normally, we’re on the phone for a couple of hours every night for a week up until the competition just running lines, practicing binder etiquette.”
The debate team is for everyone who has the confidence to do it. So many people just went in for the credit but made valuable relationships throughout the process. With the help from the team captains and peers, the debate team is a fun experience where its members can gain valuable life long skills.
“The most compelling arguments are made using emotional appeals and logical appeals because that’s how you can convince the judge that you’re holistically right,” Haq said.
