If you ask any debater, the mere concept of a debate tournament seems insane.
You travel—sometimes for hours at a time—in a tiny athletics van, sardined in with 11 other people. Starting at 4 p.m., you and your partner start verbally jousting with teams from various schools across the East Coast until midnight—just to start again at 9 a.m. And this is often running on the three-hour fumes of sleep from the night before. If you’re lucky, that night was spent in your own bed. If you’re not, it’s spent curled up in a sleeping bag on the hardwood floor of a strange dorm. But debating doesn’t end just because the tournament’s over; ask any debater, and they can attest to the fact that they’ve dreamed about debating. Even at night, you’re running your own tournament against yourself in your head.
It seems like only someone who’s out of their mind would voluntarily sign up to attend a debate all over again. Yet, more often than not, debaters are already planning their next tournament before their first is even over. Because the fact of the matter is, no matter how crazy debate gets, there’s so much to love about it.
First, you get to meet so many cool people from so many different schools. From big Ivies like Columbia and Princeton, to local schools like Northeastern University and Boston University, to schools out of state like the Hamilton College and Stanford University, there’s such a range of people that attend debate. And because the nature of debate asks for a huge scope of knowledge, more often than not, you get some pretty interesting conversations.
Not only that, but debaters are some pretty awesome people. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise: debaters might be vicious in a round, but outside of a tournament, we’re just like anyone else. Only, you know, cooler. Some of these friendships aren’t transient either: because everyone keeps attending various tournaments, faces begin to look familiar and soon enough, you’ll be looking forward to seeing your friend at the next debate—even if you might have to be debating against them.
Your also begin to make a family out of your own debate team. After all, there’s no bonding experience like being squished up against someone else for hours at a time. But all humor aside, you’ll learn that your teammates are there for when you win rounds—and when you lose them. No matter what happens, the team is there for you. Not only that, but everyone is dedicated to helping you improve. The senior varsity members are always there to give the new novices advice on how to tackle the next round or how to improve the organization of a speech.
Working with a partner while you debate is also a chance to build some amazing relationships. I’ve made some great friends from debating because there’s nothing quite as personal and profound as sharing ideas on how to tackle an argument. There you are, shooting thoughts and possibilities back and forth with your partner and slowly you learn just how your partner thinks and what they’re passionate about; you learn about their strengths and weaknesses both in knowledge and speaking. Your partner is also the one who’s supporting you during your rounds—whether it’s by laying the groundwork for you to build your arguments on, or pulling through some really clever ideas for you to work with in your final speech.
Ultimately, debating just makes you a better person. It first helps teach you how to organize your thoughts when speaking to someone. Sometimes, talking is hard. But debate helps you figure out the best ways to convey your ideas—especially in the short span of eight minutes. It finally gives you a chance to figure out your voice and how to use it. Debate also helps you figure out why things matter and how to convince both your opposing teams and your listeners why your view is right and preferable. You also start to understand and appreciate different opinions. Because you don’t always debate for something you believe in, you have to start thinking critically. You have to start asking yourself—why would someone think this way? Why would I want to push a policy that way?
On top of that, you start to expand your horizon on knowledge. There's an endless number of topics that a debate could be on. From politics to philosophy to pop culture, the subject of your next round is a mystery. So come prepared; you begin to read up on some things you never would’ve looked into on your own. And soon enough, you’ll be filled with some pretty cool but also sometimes very random facts. Like how the World Bank functions or just why the Sorting Hat might not be quite as cool as you think.
Debate is a stressful and a completely crazy experience—that much is true. But it’s also an eye-opening one, because you get to learn about others, about a wide range of topics, and—arguably, most importantly—you learn about yourself. You learn just what you’re capable of and what you’re not—and how to improve on those aspects. What you get out of debate is only as much as you put into it. And trust me, it’s worth every minute you put into it.
