Bringing home several trophies with them, the debate team traveled to the New College of Florida on April 5 to compete in state championships. Competing against debate teams from around the state, the team had a lot of success, with multiple members qualifying for nationals.
With members participating in Congressional, Public Forum, and Lincoln Douglas debate, the team qualified for both NCFL, a national competition which only accepts the top six students at each event during states, and NSDA, the largest debate competition held in the country.
Seniors Adam Litchfield and Grace Jackson, who participated in Congressional debate, an event which debates mock Congress bills and legislation, both ranked within the top six, automatically qualifying them for NCFL. Additionally, juniors Brenda Maciel and Neya Shah will be competing at NCFL in Lincoln Douglas debate, which is a one-on-one competitive debate, and Public Forum debate, which has teams of two students debating pros and cons of the same topic.
“The most rewarding part of competition for me isn’t actually the winning part, it’s the end result of all the preparation needed for a tournament to be successful at the end,” Litchfield said. “Especially the feeling of finishing a speech I had spent hours on and knowing I killed it on stage.”
In addition to these wins, junior Madison Martel finished in Congressional debate as a finalist, alongside junior Jeffery Schwartz as a second alternative. Both of them will be moving on to NSDA, where they will compete against the top schools and students in the country.
“It felt so good just to see that hard work pay off. That trophy felt like a reward after a lot of hard, hard work,” junior Madison Martel said. “Going to a national level shows that our work isn’t for nothing, that we have the potential.”
For members who did not qualify for nationals during districts or states, last-chance qualifiers are a second opportunity to attend NSDA. Freshman Rachel Wang, who finished as a semi-finalist in Congressional debate, plans to attend at a chance of progressing to nationals alongside her teammates.
“I really like talking about policy and opinions and I enjoy being able to express myself and my opinions, and I’ve just enjoyed everything about debate,” Wang said. “When I lose it still always feels like I won in some ways because our team is so close.”
Once last-chance qualifiers end, qualified members will travel to Chicago, Illinois in May for NFCL, then West Des Moines, Iowa, in June to compete in NSDA Nationals.
