The Debate Team went to San Francisco, California during the mid-winter break for a Berkeley debate tournament. This is the first school trip for many members due to COVID, and an opportunity for all to encounter more experienced, competitive opponents in a national tournament. Some members competed in speech events such as informative and oratory, and some competed in debate events such as Lincoln & Douglas, Public Forum, and Policy.

Many debaters reflected that the trip had encouraged them to work harder on their case, and was a great learning experience. “It was a lovely experience! The tournament was very competitive but we all did our best. It’s harder than most local tournaments, but it only encouraged me to work harder and make better cases,”  varsity Lincoln & Douglas debater Rawan Alnaseri said.

Speech event competitors also commented on how the Berkeley tournament opened more topics and perspectives for them to argue on. “I think it was really fun. I was tired a lot, and I had some great team bonding. I remember my last round the most, it’s where I scored the highest points, I got second place in that round and my topic was “should we express sadness,” which I think is a really interesting topic since there can be a lot of different perspectives. My perspective was that we should talk about our emotions and not bottle up, but I also talked about my brother who is the exact opposite,” impromtu specch competitor Miranda Myers said.

Just traveling to San Francisco with the school was exciting to many. At the tournament, members admired the Berkeley campus, which also made it fun to compete. “My favorite memory is probably just walking around the college campus with everyone and getting to hang out. I liked all the shops right down the street. It’s a nice place with all the Boba,” freshman Melanie Pantoja said. ho competed in original oratory speech said.

The Berkeley tournament was a meaningful trip for the debate team members who attended, it allowed the team to find its position and better improve. “The Berkeley tournament is one of the highlights of the year because it’s a great chance for people to be exposed to a more challenging competitive environment. I thought we did quite well. Our policy team of Grace Lee and Angela Wang did 3:3 which is very impressive, and everybody else got a good opportunity to try out a new style of event with new rules, and meet new people. it’s not the same people every weekend anymore. Nice job,” the debate club coach Mr. Hanson said.