Redhawk debaters are leaving The Nest Saturday as they compete at the Melissa Fall UIL Cardinal Classic, which marks the Redhawk debate team’s second competition of the year.
“So this is the advanced debate’s second competition and because they did so extremely well with their first competition, winning first place in all of their categories, I am expecting for them to continue to raise the bar at this competition,” debate teacher Michelle Porter said. “There will be additional schools that they didn’t compete against at the first competition and I think that there will probably be more competitors, so I’m looking to see if they can keep that same grit going.”
With students arriving on campus at 6 a.m. and the day not winding down until early evening, debate days can be long, but students such as junior Neha Ramachandran began preparing weeks in advance.
“In the weeks leading up to competition, to prepare, I usually mock with other debaters in my class and adjust my case/arguments based off of results,” Ramachandran said. “I also take all the feedback I got from judges in the previous competitions and arguments I acquired from opponents, to strengthen my own case.”
In addition to students, Porter has also spent the weeks leading up to competition preparing for Saturday’s event
“I constantly monitored each of my debate groups to make sure they were sufficiently preparing,” Porter said. “In addition, I look over debate cases and watch debate rounds to provide feedback.”
For many debaters, the charm of competition lies not in the actual act of competing, but in the small pockets of time between rounds.
“I’m most excited to spend time and bond with the team when we’re not debating,” Degulapet said.
But for others, competition provides an avenue to exchange ideas and perspectives with other students, especially as debaters compete against at least 10 other schools across the DFW area, including Independence High School and Lone Star High School.
“What I hope that students, including myself, will take away from competitions is that perspectives on all issues will vary,” Ramachandran said. “No two people think the same way and perceive the surroundings the same way because we all look at the world through our own lenses and the beauty of debate lies in “forcing” students to think differently and support perspectives they may personally disagree with. Being able to go to competitions and debating against people from schools all over the district shows us that every issue can be approached in a different way.”
While the Redhawks debate team walked away with quite a few awards from their last competition at Princeton, Porter’s goal and outlook still centers on knowledge, experience, and growth.
“Experience, always,” Porter said. “Winning is one thing, but gaining the experience to apply to other competitions and just, y’know, to life itself is another thing. So, I take experience over medals.”
