Debate by Lauren

Debate by Lauren - August 2016 Scholarship Essay

Debate
Lauren Snyder

The subject I learned the most from in high school would have to be Debate. Unlike other classes I took in my junior year, it wasn’t a lecture -- it was an experience Debate left me with a set of skills that helped me through the rest of high school and I am sure they will in college. Not only did it help with my academics it also helped to develop aspects of my social and public speaking skills as well.

The single most important part of debate class was researching articles for our arguments. If I were to give debate class another name I would call it “research-beyond-reasonableness” class, because that is all we did: research on the computer, research in the library, research for other people’s arguments. We learned how to clip articles to find the information needed to support a case. We found out how to follow a write-up back to the source material. I actually read a newspaper front to back for the first time. At the same time in my English class we were writing a research essay where we needed to find articles from seven different sources on the internet and write a piece using quotes from at least four. Most of my class warily accepted the challenge, wondering how they were going to have time to read seven articles -- or even find them? My debate experience made it easier for me. I had spent an entire semester learning how to effectively research a topic. When I finished the essay I realized what an invaluable skill I had been given by one of my favorite classes.
The type of debate I participated in was called Public Forum, a team event, so I would have to work with a partner. Often I would be partnered up with people with whom I previously had never talked. So before each competition, I had to find my partner and discuss what our arguments would be, how we would attack our opponents and what order we wanted to speak in. Most of the time this went smoothly, but twice I was paired up with a freshman who absolutely hated my guts. She resented the fact that out of her group of three she was the odd one out and had to work with someone outside of her friend zone. She would talk very slowly to me as if I didn’t understand what she was saying. Between rounds, she would wander off instead of discussing how things went. I realized that their where two things that I could do, make the problem worse or simply do the best I could. Since then I have dealt with many people like her. Each time I am courteous but remember that I have to do what is best for me to succeed in what I am doing, and that makes it a little easier.

Another invaluable skill I learned through debate is public speaking. People who meet me automatically get the impression that I am soft-spoken and they wouldn’t be wrong. Getting up in front of others to talk has never been my strong suit. It used to be that I would rather submit a ten-page essay than give a three-minute oral report, debate has helped me with that. About every two weeks we would have to give a two-minute speech to the class over a current event. When I heard about this I almost panicked. Then my teacher gave the class some excellent advice: The best way to a) not be nervous and b) not be boring is to become an expert in your topic. Learn all that you can and only talk about what you know and understand. If you read an article about oceanic welding and learn that welders risk their lives on every dive, don’t talk about what kinds of metal they use or their profound sense of fashion. Or if you read the article and don’t understand it, forgo it completely in your speech. Better to talk about a different topic than to look like you don’t know what you’re talking about. I have applied this to many different parts of my life. When I go into work I am not afraid to ask my boss questions that even I think are stupid, I don’t procrastinate as much as I used to, and read a bit more, because like Shakespeare once said the world is a stage, therefore everything I say public speaking and I want to be as informed and composed as possible.

Debate was a very rigorous course the more time and effort a person put into the class the more rewarding it was. It was a very noteworthy class in my high school education for the many lessons I learned from it, only a few I touched on in this essay. Those few however where very important I don’t know where I would be intellectually without them. Being able to speak confidently in public, work well with strangers and research information in a simple organized manner has served me well.