Debate Club by Chryssabella

Debate Club by Chryssabella - September 2019 Scholarship Essay

Post-secondary education, funded both publicly and privately, offers an opportunity found almost nowhere else. Any community college, state college, or university has the ability to consolidate academic, athletic, and cultural development into one organization allowing for well-roundedness in anyone who is a part of it. With that taken into consideration, it is almost impossible to extract from the inspiration college gives me and choose only one extracurricular activity to bring back to high school… almost.
When I was in high school, I was an active member in my community, bouncing from Spanish club, to basketball practice, to prom committee, to student congress; I was a part of it all. I loved the idea of collaborating with my peers and enriching my life by being put into various situations with various groups of people (Although it wasn’t that varied because I attended a high school with only about 500 students in it altogether). Despite the opportunities I had, there was always one activity that it’s absence bummed me out; that activity was Debate Club. I’m not sure why my high school didn’t have a debate team; when I got to college it sure did seem every other high school on Earth did. Perhaps my school was too small or there wasn’t enough general interest in it, nevertheless, I believe my classmates and I truly missed out on something great.
At my university, there isn’t necessarily a debate team, but there is a Model UN and a Mock Trial club who spend hours and hours every semester to prepare to go head to head with other schools to discuss and debate topics with other collegiate students. Debate Club wouldn’t be as complicated as the previous two organizations, but it’s benefits would be all the same. Debate Club trumps all other available extracurricular activities due to the fact that those who participate and/or spectate come out of it enriched academically, socially, and spiritually.
Organizing a well-structured and well-reasoned argument is not always the easiest of tasks, especially when the subject may be controversial and there are multiple counters to one argument. Going through the process of fact-finding and coordinating a persuasive argument is a skill that will last through an entire career, not just a semester. Also involved in debate clubs are debate teams, meaning other people. Developing the skills necessary in order to have a civil and respectful conversation with opposing opinions is incredibly crucial to individual and collaborative success in any setting one can be thrown into. This activity has so much to offer in every aspect of life and every high school should jumpstart their own program. I am sure I just barely covered the tip of the iceberg when it comes to all the benefits a debate club would have to offer to those involved, and because of that, I have no doubt a Debate Club would be the best extracurricular activity, developing high school students into college students into self-sufficient adults.