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• National Debate Competition Pathways School Gurgaon
  
  August 1

This summer, I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity of participating in a debate competition, known as the Mumbai Speech and Debating League, hosted by the Indian Debating League in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, with over 1200 students from 18+ cities in the top schools participating. I was mentored and guided by my debate teacher, Ms. Priyanka Kapuria, who helped me along every step of the way. There was a total of three rounds, with the final two taking place in Bombay, on the IIT campus itself.

I, along with my teammates, Jaiveer and Rhaeya started off with participating in the online round, the quarter finals. After two long, long days, full of back-to-back writing, preparation, and practicing, we were finally ready to participate in the first round of the competition, under the Junior Category. As we went through three tough rounds of debate, facing high competition and tough oppositions, we anxiously awaited for the revealing of the results, to see if we may progress to the next round. Luckily, our hard work paid off, and we not only qualified to the semi-finals, but managed to bag first place, as the highest scoring team!

Then came the next step of the journey, Bombay. Still full of happiness from my recent victory, I, along with my sister and my mother boarded a seemingly long and rather packed flight to Mumbai, had a quick lunch, and then arrived at our hotel. Upon reaching, the practice began. My teammates and I, another team of our mentors’ students in the Middle category, and Ms. Priyanka herself, occupied one of the meeting rooms and began a grilling practice. Speeches were practiced, changes were made, feedback was handed out, and help was given to those who needed it. We sat in that very room for about 3-4 hours, simply practicing debate, until everything was pitch perfect for the next day. It was quite a different experience, it was stressful, yet exciting, it was nerve racking, yet it was enjoyable, it was, all in all, a tropical mix of emotions. And then, after an awfully tiring and long day, it was finally time to rest.

I awoke the next day, once again, feeling a mix of emotions. We ate a nourishing breakfast, dressed in our formal attire, conducted one last practice, and then left for the IIT Campus. Upon reaching, we quickly realized that this was no ordinary campus, it was a miny city in itself. Long, twisted roads, tall buildings and institutes, living quarters and guards every 30 meters, it took us a good 15 minutes of searching to find the designated area for the debate. Since our event was not until a good 4-5 hours into the event, we were entertained with numerous performances, and had plenty of time to practice and discuss our debates for the second round, the semifinals. At last, it was time for the next round, our opponents were decided, a coin was flipped to decide the stances, and we were prepared to crush it. After 30 nerve-racking minutes of the debate, with, once again, very, very tough competition we anxiously waited for the results, which were to be revealed half an hour after the debate. After what seemed like an eternity, the results were finally revealed and once again, we managed to qualify to the finals!

The second the results were announced, we began our practice once again. As we were unaware of our stance before the debate, I hadn’t prepared my debate as yet, comforted by the guarantee that we would have a minimum of an hour to write our debate with the stances revealed. However, at the very moment, I learnt that our stances would be revealed a mere 5 minutes before our debate, leaving me to write 2 whole debates within a short hour. To say it was stressful would be an understatement. Luckily, we ended up learning the stances a good while before the debate, and as the event was slightly delayed, we had a good 1-2 hours to prepare our respective speeches. With the aid of my teammates and mentor, I managed to write my debate in time, reciting and practicing it to the point that it was engraved into my memory. Finally, it was time for the debate. The pressure was building up, as it was not only the round determined the final winner, but was to be held in the main hall, before an entire audience and numerous judges. The opposition was one of the strongest we had faced, and the environment was quite tense. After a long, long break, full of chatter, worry, and anxiety, we returned for the most-awaited event of the day, the award ceremony, wherein all the results would be announced. As it was a huge event, the announcements took quite some time, and after a long list of awards, the WSDC Debate category finally was to be announced. As I crossed my fingers desperately, I silently hoped for us to win. All of a sudden, I heard me and my teammates names being announced on the mike, and before I knew it, I was standing on the stage, medal around my neck and certificate and trophy in my hand with a huge smile on my face. We had won! A feeling of pride and happiness surged through me, feeling like all the countless hours of stress and worrying had finally paid off.

It was all in all, an enriching experience, and taught me multiple lessons about hard work, teamwork, and helped me improve my overall public-speaking skills.

By: Avaani Singh, MYP 2A, MYP 2 Grade Representative