New debaters walked into the senior high debate room at 4 p.m. on Tuesday for an after-school practice that would soon decide their future. In this practice, students were allowed to meet the captains of the different events and decide their event for the rest of the year.
“It’s so hard to pick an event,” freshman debate student Nina Chen said. “There are multiple and it’s hard to find one perfect for me.”
In this meeting, the students were split into five groups that took turns meeting the captains for each event. The hope for this meeting was to ensure each debater knew what event they would attend. Each of these debate students is enrolled in the debate class itself. As a part of the class, it is necessary to pick an event by January. When one picks an event, they have to stay in it for a year. The event is not permanent, though, as they can change the event next year.
Lincoln Douglas (LD)
Lincoln-Douglas is considered one of the hardest events in debate. LD is a one-on-one competition and the debate topic usually contains topics on ethics.The captain for LD is junior Aditya Shetty.
“Even though Lincoln Douglas is hard, it is really worth it in the end,” Shetty said. “It makes you dedicated and a hard-working person.”
Public Forum (PF)
Public Forum is one of the most popular events in the program. There are around 7,000-8,000 PF teams in the world. Public forum debate is a competitive form of debate that is meant to simulate a real-world debate. It is a two-on-two debate format in which two teams of two debaters debate a policy issue. The issue is usually either a current national or international issue. Captain and senior Bailey Koh sat down with the debate students during the meeting about why he believed they should choose PF. Koh is also a 2023 national champion in PF so he is very experienced in training the new debate students.
“Public forum is the best event you could do in debate,” Koh said. “We are a strong community and also you have a high success rate.”
Oratory
Oratory is another popular event. Oratory is the speech part of debate. In oratory one gives a 10-minute speech in front of judges who then evaluate the speech. Captain and junior Uma Devarakonda talked to the kids about how speech builds important life skills and why it is one of the most needed events in debate.
“Oratory builds social skills and that’s what makes it the best event out there,” Devarakonda said. “Oratory is also a non-judgmental community so you can make mistakes and still succeed.”
World Schools (WSD)
World Schools is a team event and is considered one of the easier events. In WSD teams include around three people and they argue over decisions to make the world better in some way. Senior captain Rishi Shori along with his two co-captains, Srishti Das and Sophia Ahmed, also made sure the kids knew how team-oriented this event is and how communication skills can be made.
“The people in WSD are so welcoming and kind,” Shori said. “We help you become better and soon that will help you win.”
Congress
In Congress debate, students emulate members of the United States Congress by debating pieces of legislation, including bills and resolutions. Captain and junior John Fahoum talked to the debaters about its success rate and how Congress would help them understand the political world.
“Congress is a very easy event to start with,” Fahoum said. “It helps you lay the foundation of debate and it’s an overall good event.”
In this practice, the new debate students had to choose between the five events. Their choice of event will choose which event they will practice for in the tournaments coming up.
“This practice allows the students to pick their main event,” Coach Anthony Brown said. “The kids are in no rush so hopefully they make their decision carefully.”
