Alexander England

Two desks, a podium, a judge, and a nervous feeling in the air was the setting of one of the most important debate cases I had done, and while I won against my opponent the real victory was how I did it. I joined speech and debate my freshman year of high school and have been hooked ever since. My coach, Ms. Jackson, was amazing, as a former national champion she was able to inspire our team and us the confidence to perform on levels we only dreamed of. The most significant part of the debate isn't the time spent on the podium but the time spent in the library. Writing your case takes weeks of research and meticulous editing in order to be ready for “game day.” This is the story of a debate that won't soon be forgotten.

I always liked to discuss important issues and events with my peers, but as those peers were high school students there was little knowledge of those hot button events to be found. I sought an outlet to do something I fell in love with in middle school, and speech and debate is where I found my calling. Writing in itself seemed like a chore, a means to an A’ as I called it. However as time went on and english became more trivial it seemed I had a knack for writing. It wasn't until my english teacher held a debate in her own classroom where I realized how intertwined debate and writing were. Once I came to the conclusion that improved writing skills meant improved debate skill my perspective changed dramatically.

As I recall it was a wednesday, my team had prepped all week. Now I was the only one in the class who debated on a competitive level, and the teacher knew this. Naturally she gave me a team that was less than experienced, however I taught them some tricks of the trade and was confident. My opponents were cunning, I was also matched against the more intelligent group but still had an edge. I was the only one who had debated before. I had written probably over a dozen cases by then, but this one was different. I seemed to write with passion, it became more than just a means to debate, the writing became enjoyable. The debate was a muder case and whether capital punishment was in order. Writing about a life and death scenario, researching different court cases never seemed so enjoyable. I found that as I wrote more and more I felt more confident that I could write, and that I should pursue writing in more aspects than class. 

The class was dead quiet as the votes were counted. Each member of the class had a vote, meaning there were 25 votes to be counted. I remember feeling confident, but also weary as my leg shook under my desk. Winning the debate 21 to 4 was further validation in my new found passion for writing. I found that reading those words off a paper while using different infections and tone were skills I had already procured. It was the words I was reading that made the case come alive, it was the writing itself that made the whole endeavor worth its while. 

The significance of this literacy encounter lies in the metogoniction that took place. After that debate I thought about the way I used to perceive writing and how it changed based on a single paper. A small writing piece meant for a debate changed my outlook on an entire form of communication. I learned that I could write, I learned that writing can build confidence and I learned the most important lesson of all. That lesson being that writing is one of if not the most important form of communication in existence. What we say can vanish in the memories of those who hear us, but what we write is marked in history for an eternity. That truth in itself serves as proof for the importance of writing.

   Knowing about where you have been sets a tone for where you are going. I used to believe that writing was just a means to get good grades in classes that required it, but now my eyes have been open to far more possibilities. I now believe that writing can be a part of my career, and that literacy has become a valued and important part of my life. That one debate, that one English class, that one paper was a jump start for a whole new way of thinking. Two desks, a podium, a judge, a nervous feeling in the air, and a passion for writing is the setting for my future debates.

Two desks, a podium, a judge, and a nervous feeling in the air was the setting of one of the most important debate cases I had done, and while I won against my opponent the real victory was how I did it. I joined speech and debate during my freshman year of high school and have been hooked ever since. My coach, Ms. Jackson was amazing, as a former national champion she was able to inspire our team and give us the confidence to perform on levels of which we only dreamed. The most significant part of the debate is not the time spent on the podium but the time spent in the library. Writing your case takes weeks of research and meticulous editing in order to be ready for “game day.” This is the story of a debate that will not soon be forgotten.

I always liked to discuss important issues and events with my peers, but as those peers were high school students there was little knowledge of those hot button events to be found. I sought an outlet to do something I fell in love with in middle school, and speech and debate are where I found my calling. Writing in itself seemed like a chore, a means to an ‘A’ as I called it. However, as time went on and English became more trivial it seemed I had a knack for writing. It was not until my English teacher held a debate in her own classroom where I realized how intertwined debate and writing were. Once I came to the conclusion that improved writing skills meant improved debate skills my perspective changed dramatically.

As I recall it was a Wednesday, my team had prepped all week. Now I was the only one in the class who debated on a competitive level, and the teacher knew this. Naturally, she gave me a team that was less than experienced, however, I taught them some tricks of the trade and felt confident. My opponents were cunning, I was also matched against the more intelligent group but still had an edge. I was the only one who had debated before. I had written probably over a dozen cases by then, but this one was different. I seemed to write with passion. It became more than just a means to debate, the writing became enjoyable. The debate was a murder case and whether capital punishment was in order. Writing about a life and death scenario, researching different court cases never seemed so enjoyable. I found that as I wrote more and more I felt increasingly confident that I could write, and that I should pursue writing in more aspects than class. 

The class was dead quiet as the votes were counted. Each member of the class had a vote, meaning there were 25 votes to be counted. I remember feeling confident, but also weary as my leg shook under my desk. Winning the debate 21 to 4 was further validation of my new found passion for writing. I found that reading those words off a paper while using different infections and tone were skills I had already procured. It was the words I was reading that made the case come alive, it was the writing itself that made the whole endeavor worth its while. 

The significance of this literacy encounter lies in the metacognition that took place. After that debate, I thought about the way I used to perceive writing and how it changed based on a single paper. A small writing piece meant for a debate changed my outlook on an entire form of communication. I learned that I could write. I learned that writing can build confidence. I learned the most important lesson of all, that writing is one of, if not the most important, form of communication in existence. What we say can vanish in the memories of those who hear us, but what we write is marked in history for eternity. That truth in itself serves as proof of the importance of writing.

    Knowing about where you have been sets a tone for where you are going. I used to believe that writing was just a means to get good grades in classes that required it. However, my eyes have been open to far more possibilities. I now believe that writing can be a part of my career and that literacy has become a valued and important part of my life. That one debate, that one English class, that one paper was a jump-start for a whole new way of thinking. Two desks, a podium, a judge, a nervous feeling in the air, and a passion for writing is the setting for my future debates.