Lincoln-Douglas debater, junior Neha Ramachandran researches potential arguments on the early morning bus ride to Melissa High School.

Prior to the start of first debate rounds at 8 a.m., Lincoln-Douglas debater, junior Trisha Agarwal squeezes in some last minute preparation as she times her case and cuts cards.

While preparation for extemporaneous debate centers largely on awareness of current events and practice speeches, preparation for policy and Lincoln-Douglas (LD) debate looks extremely different with debaters preparing cases and creating “cards”, or condensed forms of articles and research papers.

Novice LD debater, sophomore Rhea Kosuri listens as fellow novice LD debater, sophomore Safaa Shaikh explains her case before rounds start for the day.

Ramachandran leads LD debaters outside for a brief break in the middle of debaters’ jam-packed day.

Policy debater, junior Mahi Kosuri shares stories from her rounds earlier in the day with debate teacher Michelle Porter and other teammates.

LD and policy debaters hang out and play card games after the conclusion of their rounds as they wait for their teammates to finish their final round for extemporaneous debate.

As debaters play, they celebrate a successful day with each of the 15 competing debaters placing in the top 13 of their division and ten debaters placing in the top 5.