In seventh grade, I joined the MVLA Speech and Debate team to become a more confident speaker. I used to be that one girl in the corner of the classroom during class share-outs, the girl that always went last during class presentations.
Since then, not only have I become a more confident speaker, but also a more assertive and thoughtful leader. Debate has opened up opportunities I would never have imagined, and has shaped me in ways I never would have envisioned.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, debate was a place for me to meet a vibrant community of brilliant people who shared my love for learning and thinking. It was a welcoming environment that introduced me to some of the most important people in my life, whether that be coaches, mentors, competitors, students or friends.
As you can imagine, combining teenagers, stress and mild sleep deprivation at tournaments led to pure chaos – and that chaos created the warmest and funniest memories. For example, at a tournament in Los Angeles, our team stayed up all night prepping together for rounds the next day, even DoorDashing boba at midnight for sustenance. There, we made friends with people from all over California. Even the stressful and anxiety-inducing moments like bursting into tears during a particularly disastrous round or stressing out on Zoom after sleeping through morning rounds become funny team-bonding moments in hindsight.
Aside from its wonderful community, debate is incredibly important because of how it enriches our character. In Lincoln Douglas, we receive a new debate topic every two months. We have researched topics such as universal health care, universal child care, lethal autonomous weapons, space appropriation and the U.S. Supreme Court at the same time the entire nation debated over these topics. These topics have taught me so much not only about the current political climate, but also about issues such as poverty, climate change, the government, social sciences and structural racism, and have opened my eyes past my small bubble living here in Los Altos.
Debate is an incredible opportunity for high schoolers to learn about the world and current issues and to develop a mindset of assertive advocacy and empathetic kindness.
Further, debate cultivates leaders. Unlike many other teams, our team is mostly student-run. Students sit down in a circle and discuss the potential direction of our club, we plan our own events, we write curriculum and we lead our summer camps and middle school programs.
But none of these experiences – the team dinners, the late-night prep sessions – would have been possible without the parents who volunteer as judges, drive students to tournaments and support us financially every year. Because of them, we are able to cover financial costs for many of our tournaments, host team dinners and organize fundraisers.
We hope with the continued support of our community, we can expand this incredible opportunity and keep on transforming the lives of our youth.
Speech and Debate is more than a hobby of mine, it’s a community – one that thrives from the efforts of students, coaches and volunteers alike.
For more information on the MVLA (Mountain View/Los Altos) Speech and Debate team or to inquire about volunteering visit mvlasd.club.
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