By: Zoe Horowitz, Devpreet Singh, and Ella Adeline
Allie Tomaini, a former debate student, graduated in 2019. She was involved with debate throughout her entire high school experience. Tomaini competed in World Schools Debate and Congressional Debate. Throughout her debate career, she placed first in a Congressional Debate round. She now attends Florida State University in Tallahassee, where she is majoring in Business and Technology.
Why did you join debate?
At first, I joined debate because I was informed about how this class would reflect on a college application, however, I continued to stay time and time again because debate was not only rewarding and fun, I was able to make tons of friends, and become part of a supportive student community within the school.
What is your favorite speech or debate event? Why?
From all my experiences, my favorite event to compete in is Congressional Debate. Basically, it’s a simulation of the Legislative process that goes on in our government. It’s very informative and engages analytical thinking.
How did debate help you throughout high school?
Debate has helped shape me as a person. I was able to become confident in my public speaking abilities and even further my writing skill. Also, I had numerous opportunities to become involved in my community, both politically and socially.
First things first, preparing to compete. A huge mistake most people make, even after being in debate for years, is writing their speeches the night before. Don’t be like every other debater and go into the round unprepared. Break the “Procrastinator’s Curse” and get your speeches and ideas organized in advance. This will help you feel more confident and well versed in the topic area. Former novice student Aashi Chhabra explains how to overcome this: “I love speech and debate and I am extremely passionate about it. I always wanted a medal and win however too often I would do my speeches the night before. Yeah, I would get an award a lot of the time, but I never did as well as I could have, and it would cause me to get 6th place instead of 4th or 5th. Quite often I would have been the 7th person to get an award if they were placing 6 people. Procrastination limited what I could do; a speech in debate or speech that anybody does the night before a tournament is not going to be as successful as a speech you have been editing and revising for weeks. Regardless of what you think or maybe how you did in middle school is irrelevant. You will not fulfill your potential and earn what you want to achieve by procrastinating”. It also might be a good idea to try and practice speaking. You may have a bomb speech, but a poor performance can really butcher your score.
Now the time has come for you to show your knowledge and perform what you have been working on for weeks. Once you get off your bus it may be confusing on where exactly you must go or what you are supposed to do. Do not freak out, but be attentive to what your teacher is doing, and she or he will show you the way. When you get to your first destination look for a map of the tournament location and take a picture if available. If you cannot find a map, wait until your room for the round is released and you can ask any tournament organizer (identify them by their shirts). Do not be afraid to ask questions when you are lost. Your opponent and judge may be waiting for you and being late can cause a bad impression. As you are waiting for your round to start, go over your speech and go over any points that you aren’t completely sure about, but don’t worry. Former novice student Victoria Ferreira explains the feeling as, “I always get a little nervous before a competition, so I always read my speech several times, and debate my case with my partner or colleagues. This always helps calm my nerves and feel more prepared”. Throughout the round, be sure to be calm and don’t lose your cool. A lot of debaters are known to lose their cool and speakers are known to freeze and stutter due to nervousness. Once you finish your round, go straight back to the first location you went to with your school, and wait until your next round is posted. If you are hungry before the next round, drink water or eat something that is not too greasy if you are feeling nervous. Lastly, make sure to use the restroom to make sure you do not have to go during the round. Congratulations! You have completed your very first debate tournament! We knew you could do it. You prepared, practiced, and competed, and now you are finished and can go back to your class and say you owned that tournament (or not). This was your survival guide for debate tournaments, and now you can use this knowledge for future tournaments, or to help other new debaters who were just as scared as you.
Good luck for the rest of the debate season. We know that you will do amazing things at PBHS!