When did you start debate and why?

I started at the beginning of last year. I knew I wanted to join debate, but I don’t really know why. Once I joined, I was motivated by Leah Shapiro and my coach. It’s just something that I got into. It’s not always the most fun, but it’s definitely rewarding.

What value is debate to you?

You really get a lot out of it. Writing becomes easier and so does speaking in public. It also really helps with critical thinking, which is helpful for higher education. For example, homework is a lot easier now with debate. When I have to write an essay it goes far quicker and is not as hard.

What are you doing to prepare for the debate season?

This summer I went to debate camp for two weeks and one of the people teaching there was Leah Shapiro who graduated from Park last year and got third place in the country last year. I also knew I needed a private coach because the thing about debate is that everyone has their own style but if you want to do well you need to learn other people’s styles. So I now have my private coach who I met at camp. She is working with me now as well as my coach from Park.

Tell us about the tournament you will be participating in.

The first day only I will be going from my team. It’s called the Sophomore Throwdown Round Robin in Iowa and only 18 high school sophomores around the country get invited to. I was nominated by a team member last year and the tournament director chooses from all those and nominates 18 to compete. The day after that is an open division varsity level tournament that me and another team are attending.

What do you plan to do with debate in the future?

What I decided to do is to skip junior varsity and go straight to varsity so that I can do really well by my senior year. By then I really hope to go to this tournament called the Tournament of

Champions, which you need to do very well during the regular season to get into. No one really stays with debate the rest of their lives because the truth is that it ends after high school. I do

hope after high school to eventually be able to coach someone privately.