Great essay on the importance of debate
Thanks to Tuna Snider at the Global Debate Blog for posting this link about how debate changed a young student’s life. I’m sure so many of us have similar stories.
I know that when I joined my school’s debate team it really transformed my ability to stand up and speak out. Not only on issues we researched but in other areas of my life as the author of the article explains.
Just last week I was able to share dinner with a former student from 2003 who is now living in New York City – and she took talked about what a difference debate made in her life and how she does not think she would have accomplished so much without debate.
As we are about to start a new season it may be helpful to reflect on why so many of us do this activity and what we can do to encourage more people to join debate.
Why do you compete/coach/judge debate?
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Comments
Thanks for your comment Nick. As a competitor I shared many of the same goals for my forensics career – I wanted to win and enjoyed winning. I think that aspect of forensics is important – without it our numbers would probably be a lot less.
As a coach, however, I’ve found myself focusing on the secondary reasons much more than winning =)
Of course. I think that once we move beyond the realm of competition, we stay involved in debate not to win, but out of the love and enjoyment of the activity. I’m still very much active with my old high school squad. Coaching, cutting cards, judging, answering questions – I do all of this without any expectation of repayment because I want others to have opportunities to excel. Debate can only be as strong as the commitment of those who participate, both peers and mentors alike.
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I love quoting my old lab leader from the Gonzaga debate institute, Mike Hester. The very first thing he wrote on the whiteboard in our first lab session was this -
“To Play is to Win”
I debate primarily because I am competitive at heart. Debate is the only academic activity that gives me the creative room to express what I feel while simultaneously allowing me to deliver a beatdown on someone. When I spend hours writing blocks and cutting cards, I’m not doing it because it’s “fun.” I’m doing it to win. Winning, now that’s fun. Debate is not a sport, but I consider myself similar to any college athlete in that respect.
Of course, there’s secondary reasons for why I like debate. The educational experience, rhetorical skills, and relationships I develop are all important.
I especially like how debate spills over into my schooling. In high school, my term papers in history/government classes were incredibly simple to write, because I had literally hundreds of sources at my disposal from the cards I cut. For my senior project paper, I literally took my 1AC and rewrote it in essay form; I scored 100% on it. And I’m looking forward to taking my first philosophy class at UCLA while already being very fluent in the language of people like Zizek and Heidegger.
The breadth and depth of knowledge I’ve gained (and will continue to gain) through debate is simply unparalleled by any other collegiate activity.