Isn't There Anyone Who Knows What Christmas is All About?

I've been listening to Adventures in Odyssey my whole life, and over that time I learned many important things. Even though the cassette boxes say that it's for ages eight through twelve, and I'm fourteen, it continues to remind me of the most basic things. Brace yourselves. I'm about to be the most cliché person ever.

Even now, as a teenager, it is so easy to forget what Christmas is about. Now, I've seen enough cheesy Hallmark movies and VeggieTales to know that Christmas isn't about gifts or decorations, but with the commercialization around Christmas, it's easy to forget. I had a debate tournament this past weekend, so Christmas has been far from my mind, so I've been listening to Christmas Adventures in Odyssey to catch up on the spirit of the season.

It's easy for all of us to forget the point of Christmas. The secular culture has chewed it up and spit it out as a time for big sales, big trees, and big gifts. I think we all need to take a break from the commercialization and watch A Charlie Brown Christmas. It's not about gifts or decorations. It's about family and friends, being with people you love. It's about the greatest gift ever given- Jesus Christ. I pray we never forget that.

"'And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.' And that's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown."

Merry Christmas to all, and may all vote affirmative.

Kitkats and Impromptu (ballots)

Ever since I started this blog (in May), I've been waiting to come across the perfect picture for it. Preferably the impromptu topic 'Kitkats.' I would take a picture of the topic and post it on here. Unfotunately, I never drew that topic. But then my super duper awesome friend gave me a Kitkat and I was struck with inspiration. Vote affirmative, for my extreme creativity.

When You're Stuck on What to Say During Tournament Conversations

This year, my persuasive is about 'the impact you can have through a conversation.' In it, I encourage people to introduce themselves to people they've never met before, because you never know the kind of impact you can have on someone through a simple conversation. Sometimes it's really hard to figure out what to say after 'hello, my name is -insert your name here-", but there are a few good conversation starters that are perfect tournaments.

"I Like Your Suit"

This comment, when said to a girl, will often result in a shpeel (shpeal? shpele?) about how many hours she spent looking in thrift stores looking for a cute suit, only to discover that her older sister had some perfectly adorable ones hidden in the depths of her closet. Or she'll just say thanks, and probably compliment something you're wearing.

"What Case Are You Running?"

Not only is this a good conversation starter, it's also a great way to learn how to destroy them when you hit them about your new friend's opinion on the resolution. ;)

"Where Did You Get Those Shoes?"

"Oh, you mean these little flats that look so cute and innocent but are actually the most horrendous things to walk the planet?" "Yes, those." "Target."

"How Many Siblings do You Have?"

Not 'do you have siblings?' How many. We're homeschoolers- it's a given that we have siblings. There's no telling how many siblings one has, when in the homeschool world. But if someone answers 'none,' you have every right to gasp in horror and ask why.

"What Club Are You From?"

This year the answer to this question will be more varied than ever. Maybe one day I'll figure out what all the Tyler club names are. But probably not.

"How Long Have You Been Doing Speech and Debate?"

"This is my second year, but I've been around S&D for seven years." "Okay... wow..." "And I did juniors for a year. I like, won first place, but then I got last place and gave up on speech for four years. Then I wrote a speech about it..."

"What Tournaments Are You Going to?"

Be sure to remember their answer to this, so that at the end of the tournament you can say 'see you at -insert clever tournament name here-!'

"What Speech Events Are You Doing?"

This question will inevitably lead to the following questions:

1. What is your persuasive/OO/expos on?
2. What is your DI/Duo/HI/OI/Storytelling?
3. Do you prefer abstracts or quotes for impromptu?
4. Isn't extemp the event boring people do?
5. Why aren't you doing any interps?
6. Just debate? That's lame. What's your case?
7. Do you have something against impromptu?

"Vote Affirmative"

Okay, that's a really horrible conversation starter. But it's a good affirmative rebuttal ender. And blog post ender. So... Vote affirmative. And if you have any more tournament conversation starters, tell me in the comments. :)

Disney Debaters

You know, if you think about it, a lot of the Disney princesses were homeschooled. Rapunzel, Anna, Elsa, Jasmine, Aurora. Which explains why Anna was all like, 'there'll be actual, real live people. It'll be totally strange.' Because homeschoolers have seen very few actual real live people. They spend most of the time dreaming of the outside world and asking people to vote affirmative. So while I go pretend that the outside world isn't scary, vote affirmative.

Pocahontas says goodbye to her out of state friends.

Mulan wonders why there are two men wrestling on her medal.

Ariel is congratulated for breaking to finals.

Rapunzel anxiously waits outside her finals room.

Debate romance! Remember the side hug.

Anna is in denial about breaking to finals

The StoaSouth Prologue - a Tournament Re-cap

I woke up the morning before the tournament at 5:00AM. Why? Because I had Pre Tournament Sleep Disorder. Why? Because it was right before a tournament, and that's how you end up with such a disorder. I listened to an Adventures in Odyssey before getting up, and then I walked into my bathroom, to this message written in a lovely shade of blue... "THE TOURNAMENT IS TOMORROW! GET TO WORK!" So I did just that. I practiced my two prepared speeches and worked on debate and straightened my hair. That evening we had special debates at my debate coach's house.

I live in Texas. My debate partner lives in Arkansas. How does this make sense? It doesn't. But I love my wonderful TP partner, who I hardly ever see, so when I saw her the day before the tournament, I was more than a little excited. We debated with our case for the first time against some of my best friends. I learned much of tiny fish. And I came up with a great quote for the 1AR/2AC. Let's just say, it has to do with VeggieTales.

And then I went home and ate toquitoes. And then I printed off briefs. SO MANY BRIEFS. My printer had a heart attack, then I started writing this blog post three days early. Then I said I was going to bed. Then I watched two episodes of Parks and Rec. Then I got in bed. And didn't sleep. For a long time. When I finally fell asleep, it seemed only moments before I woke up again. It didn't take me long to realize that it was the day of the tournament.

I struggled through the cold of my bedroom and blinked at the oncoming light of my bathroom. I practiced half of my persuasive then realized that practicing a speech at 5:20AM is not the best of ideas. So I turned on an Adventures in Odyssey tape instead (homeschooling, guys). It was exceptionally cold in my bedroom, and putting on a skirt did not assist the temperature. I tried singing 'Let It Go', from Disney's new movie Frozen, but saying 'the cold never bothered me anyway' doesn't really help.

I gathered my belongings and ate two sausage and biscuit and waited for a very long time before we actually left. When the time came, I hobbled out in my heels, to very un-Texan weather. Freezing. So cold. So so cold. I sat in the freezing car and rode in the freezing car for fifteen minutes from our house to the tournament facility, where I quickly walked inside, demanding that my brother get my debate box out of the suburban.

Warmth. That church was well heated. It was soon to be hot, when all those teenagers in suits would show up. And show up they did. SO MANY PEOPLE. Everywhere. Black suits. I was the hipster in her tan really awesome suit. After our first debate round, it was time the first pattern of speech, which I had all of my events in. I gave my duo with my awesome duo partner, without even realizing that it was a.) the first speech I had given in competition since NITOC and b.) it was the first interp I had ever given in competition ever. (Except juniors, but whatev's.) And my partner didn't even mess up! (*Coughcoughkalebcoughcough*) I got a judge on the verge of tears in my persuasive and my judge seemed to like my impromptu.

Another debate round, an empty speech pattern. Lunch, friends, more debate, and lastly another speech round. I ran to postings with the crowd. 'Hahaha...' I thought 'I bet I'm going to end up going first in all of my events.' I looked at duo, to find that I was actually forth in the room. 'Guess I was wrong.' I looked at persuasive postings, to find that I was indeed first in the room. I looked at impromptu postings to see when I was going. First. It was kind of like the time I told everyone I was going to get hit in the face with a frisbee, then got hit in the neck instead.

After giving my speeches, I walked around with some of my friends and had awkward conversations about awkward conversations. When we finally left, I was ready to get home and eat and relax for awhile. I had a long day ahead of me. I somehow managed to go to sleep without hours of worrying whether or not I would break, like I usually do the night before the last day of the tournament.

When I heard my mother knock on my door, the debate tournament was far from my mind. I was probably thinking about Adventures in Odyssey or something. But the second I heard that knock I flew from my bed. THERE'S A TOURNAMENT TODAY! I threw on my suit (haha! Just kidding, that makes no sense. You can't just throw a suit on), I put on my purple eyeshadow for purple day, I froze my poor little legs off. Mom informed me that I did indeed have to go earlier than the normal competitors who don't have tournament coordinators for moms. I hobbled out in the cold, which was somehow colder than the day before and sat in the freezing car for fifteen minutes.I greeted my friends as we and they arrived until the first round started. I debated, and after I timed Mars Hill.

My two favourite parts of timing MH were 1.) My friend John used mine and his brother's duo in his speech about Wicked, which happens to be my favourite musical that I've never seen, and 2.) Getting to say thirty seconds used. And I got to say it a lot. It was very amusing. 'Thirty seconds used. *restrained giggles.*' It was a great struggle not to get distracted thinking about Wicked, which I hoped someone would talk about because, as previously stated, that's my favourite musical I've never seen. In the process I got Defying Gravity and subsequently For Good stuck in my head (both songs from Wicked).

After debate round five, it was time for speech breaks. I had to use the restroom, but I couldn't leave the room without risking missing something. So I stayed. I hugged my friends who broke in apol, broadcasting, etc., then I sat down for duo breaks. As they went down the names, my hopes diminished for breaking. When the tournament director mispronounced a name and was determined to get it right, I thought that was the end. That's when I heard it. Did I hear it? Yes, I heard it. Did I hear right? Yes. I did. The team name 'Hall/Jones' came out of the tournament director's mouth. And I fell out of my chair. Literally. I fell out of my chair. On to the ground. My friends can attest to this.

After recovering from the duo shock, I walked across the room to awkward side-hug my duo partner (he's a guy. No front hugs for guys). I sat in another chair as the tournament director moved onto the next event. I asked my chair neighbour what event this was, and as soon as said neighbour informed me that it was impromptu breaks, the tournament director (who is the father of two of my best friends) looked down/up from the podium lectern at me and said 'Hadley Jones.' And I was like, 'WHATOMIGOSHTHANKYOUJESUS!' And once breaks were through the first thing did was rush to the bathroom. I prayed with like, twenty people before the round and gave my impromptu speech. Afterwards I kept looking through the window into the duo room.

I had never been in finals in an event that people actually watch. In impromptu finals, I had a bunch of people follow me, and people watched me in persuasive finals. But that was different. There were thirteen people  max in those rooms. And they had come specifically to watch me, mostly because I asked them to. But duo is the event everyone comes to watch. EVERYONE. Well, some people watch HI finals, but half the tournament was in the duo room. We (my partner and I, and everyone who wanted to watch our speech and were not yet in the room) walked in and asked permission to remove our nametags and jackets. And we did our duo.

At some point during the tournament, I played the Bible version of Apples to Apples. I was winning, but then we had to go do a group photo and there were breaks at some point and a debate round and I really have no idea when all this happened. You tend to lose track of time at tournaments. So we had a debate round, played Apples to Apples, and took a group photo at some point in time, not necessarily in that order.

I was going to have a "photo shoot" with my friends, but they kept telling us to go watch debate finals, which I was trying to avoid, and I had to watch it anyway and I was not the happiest of campers. After awhile we started the awards ceremony I got my medal for eighth place duo (I'd like to mention that I now have eighth place medals for every speech event I've competed in. Which is three.) and then went and stood for impromptu.

When the first name they called wasn't mine, I knew that I had just gotten the highest rank I'd ever gotten. The second name called also wasn't mine. The next three names called weren't mine. My name was the sixth name called. Which means I got third. Which means I got a trophy. My first real live trophy! And it was pretty and crystal and said third place on it. And my three friends, of whom I am the shortest, emphatically hugged me. Especially Maria. She hugged me a lot. Like, a whole lot. A ridiculous amount of hugging. And it was awesome because even though she also broke to impromptu finals and was on stage.

After awards everyone got their ballots and either went home or went to their hotel or went to our TP coach's house. And I got the most hilarious comment on a ballot, only it was actually for my duo partner. Most of the ballots were actually legible. And some people were really nice and gave me firsts in persuasive. Then I stayed the night with my debate partner, who lives in Arkansas but was staying at our coach's house. And we watched Mulan. And slept. And woke  up way too early. And I went home and did nothing, as planned. Tournament recovery is more than mildly difficult. I'm still recovering.

One more thing... I got to ask people to vote affirmative for reals, which I hadn't done since April. Which was eight months ago. But I'm still going to ask you to vote affirmative. To save the forage fish. The poor little guys.

Ten Things All Novices Should Know Before Competing

Last year was my first year of real-live actual competition, and despite the fact that I thought I learned all there was about speech and debate, I learned quite a few things. So, my dear novices, here are ten things you really ought to know before competing.

10. It's Hard To Pay Attention to Timers in TP Rounds

The squiggles means the timer is waving
their hands around, for the record.

Maybe it's because I have my own timer to time myself with, maybe because I'm too busy bumbling through evidence and trying to read my handwriting, or maybe it's because I'm too short to see over the podium. Whatever it may be, I have a very hard time paying attention to timers, even though I was a timer and I understand all the hard work that goes into actually paying attention to the time piece. Hopefully you'll be better at that than me.

9. It Is Surprisingly Easy to Go Into Rounds Wearing Slippers

Sometimes you have awesome friends who tell you to go change your shoes. Other times you go into a round and halfway through you realize that you forgot to put on your heels or ballet flats or whatever. Still other times you don't realize until you get your ballots at the end of the tournament. When I did juniors I had a judge who was wearing fluffy rainbow slippers. I wish I had some of those. I suggest you just get slippers that look like flats so the judges won't notice.

8. It's Possible to Get Eighth Place Ballots

Despite the fact that the lowest rank on the ballot is 'fifth and below', some judges are kind enough to void that and write what they actually ranked you, thus dispelling all hopes that that may have been an actual fifth. I hope that you will never get a judge who does this.

7. You Don't Need to Start Every Speech With "then Let's Begin"

No one likes it. The judges don't, the timers don't, you don't. You will never get on a ballot, 'you should've started your speech by saying "then let's begin.' It's not important and everyone does it. Be a rebel. Don't do it. I know it feels wrong not to, but the judges know that you're going to begin when you ask them if they are ready. They're not expecting you to stand there and say nothing. You will not go to the debate dungeon. You will not get bumped from first to eighth.

6. Don't Wait Until the Day Before the Tournament to Write Your Speech

I think that's pretty self-explanatory. If you write your speech the day before the tournament, 5th and belows will ensue and you could end up in the debate dungeon. You don't want to know what the debate dungeon is.

5. Don't slap people in the face with their own name tags

This doesn't have anything to do with actual competition and is more optional. There aren't any severe consequences. What I really mean is don't slap *me* in the face with my own name tag.

4. Judges Aren't Evil. Or Crazy. Or Robots Set Out to Crush Your Soul

Read the cups.

It's very easy to assume this when you see your ballots for the first time. However I assure you that this is not the case (usually). It's true, some judges make ridiculous remarks. Like one time, a judge told me to control my hair. In that round, my hair had been straightened and put into a side pony-tail. But she gave me first. So I have some conflicted feelings for that judge. You may hear people say that judges are crazy, but those people are wrong. (Unless they actually ARE crazy. But that probably won't happen.) They do their best to offer constructive criticism, and sometimes they come off mean because written words don't properly communicate feelings. And all you judges out there: put smiley faces on ballots. That helps.

3. Ballot Parties Have Almost Nothing to Do With Ballots

Sure, for the first half hour or so, people talk about their ballots and how great judges are, but the rest is just randomness. Discussing tournament horror stories (like how you wore slippers into an impromptu round), complaining about lazy timers, talking about the great impromptu examples Mrs Martin came up with. They're one of my favourite parts of a tournament.

2. You Don't Need to be Afraid of Really Good Debaters/Speechers

That's Chandler Lasch. She's awesome. ;)

Most of them are really nice! It sometimes feels like you're inferior when you walk up to a person who won five speech events and TP, but I assure you they do not feel the same way. They are normal people just like you, even if they have more trophies than some people.

1. Your Ranking Does Not Define You (Unless You Let It)

When you get nothing but Fifth and belows on your ballots, and 15's in speaks, it's easy to believe that that is what defines your skills as a speaker. But it doesn't, not unless you allow it too. After NITOC, I looked at my ballots and got really down on myself. I started to believe that I wasn't good at speech and debate and that I should just give up. It was hard, it really was, even though my speech was about failure. Don't let subjective placings define you. Always remember...

You see what we have learned applies to the round today, and now that our post is done, vote affirmative.

The Should-be Goal of Speech and Debate

At the first club meeting of the year, our platform coach asked for us to write down two goals for the competition. It would've been so easy to write down, 'get first place on a ballot,' or 'qualify for nationals.' It's easy for those things to be our goals. It's easy to go to a tournament wanting nothing more than to win. And sometimes we do. People win. And it's amazing to watch my friends win.

Last year, when I wrote down goals before tournaments, I had a lot of '9:00 minutes on persuasive,' or 'three cross-x questions in TP.' I never wrote down as one of my goals 'win!' But for at least half of those tournaments, that was my real goal. Not entirely. I did want to persuade people in persuasive, and have a three minute impromptu, but I also wanted to win. I felt like I deserved to win.

C.S. Lewis said that humility isn't thinking less of yourself; it's thinking of yourself less. When I didn't do well (to say the least) at NITOC, I started thinking that I wasn't good enough. I didn't think that I deserved to be at NITOC, I didn't think that I deserved to be doing speech and debate at all. I thought I wasn't good enough. That night, looking at my ballots, I couldn't think clearly. I knew, I really knew, that ballots aren't a definition of who I am, or how good I am. But I couldn't believe it as I saw fifth and below after fifth and below. I was focused on myself. Not on the people in my rooms who got 1sts, not on the people who didn't qualify for nationals.

When I wrote my speech, I knew who it was for. It wasn't for me. It was for the people watching my rounds. The judges, the timer, the audience. The people whose preparedness I questioned before I began every speech. But it's easy to forget the reason we do speech and debate, or easy to forget what should be the reason we do speech and debate: to bring glory to God. I never want to forget the time people have said that my speech inspired them. I never want to forget why that speech inspired them: because God was with me. Because the only way I was ever able to write a speech was with God's help.

My goal for this year is to remember why I do speech and debate, why I go into rounds with my heart in my stomach so I can give a speech to a bunch of strangers who are literally casting judgement on me. I want to learn to communicate with intelligence. I want to be able to think critically. I want to inspire people and encourage them. And I want to make people laugh at my duo. But most of all, I want to remember that there are other people involved. I want to remember that the judge who ranked me fifth and below did that for a reason. I want to remember that the person who won first place worked hard to get there. I want my focus to be on other people. It won't be easy, and it won't be a one time thing. But it'll be worth it.

But besides remembering, I want to ask you, judge, to vote affirmative. Not because I deserve it, but because there is no one going neg against me. And what's the point of voting for someone who doesn't exist?

Tournament Fever

There are certain things that get me really excited about tournaments. Like watching speeches on YouTube, trying on suit jackets, or finishing e-ring. But I'm currently in a stage where almost anything related to speech and debate will get me excited. Such as (but not limited to) hearing the word 'extemp,' looking at a calendar and realizing that the first tournament is only a month away, or just seeing my suits in my closet. You see, I have this condition, commonly known as Tournament Fever. (Actually, I just made that up.)

What are some of the other symptoms of Tournament Fever, you may ask? Well, it leads to the want of things that aren't necessarily desirable. For instance...

I want to print off briefs at 11:00PM the night before the tournament
I want to wake up at obscure hours in the morning and put on a suit

I want to wear shoes that murder my feet

I want to eat undercooked hotel waffles in the shape of Texas

I want to get smacked in the face by my name-tag because it has stretchy strings
I want to practically pass out during breaks because I'm so nervous

I want to get drafted unwillingly into timing

I want to cry at the awards ceremony because my friends are amazing
I want to get first place ballots

I want to get ballots in general
I want the hotel staff to shut us up because it's 12:00AM and some people sleep at that time
I want to ask people to vote affirmative for real

Yes, tournament fever is quite the affliction But in 27 days I'll be able to really ask people to vote affirmative. But for now, I'll settle for asking you. And it's for all these reasons that I strongly urge an affirmative ballot at the end of today's debate round.

An undercooked Texas-shaped hotel waffle

I Just Realized Something... Again

You probably already know that I love speech and debate. I've written three posts about loving it, and about a million others about it in general. It's pretty self evident that I love it. And I really do. Of course, I didn't always feel this way about forensics. No, it took me a long time to realize just how great it is.

Once upon a time, my sister joined speech and debate. I was only eight at the time, and I had no idea what we were getting into. After the first tournament, which was technically only a practice tournament, my mom was all like, 'you're coming to Houston with us!' And by 'us' she meant her, my sister, my sister's debate partner, and my sister's debate partner's mom. Back in the day, I really hated long car-rides. They just seemed so much longer when I was younger. But we watched Anne of Green Gables on the way, so it could have been worse.

I avoided timing and watching debate as much as possible. I'm not sure what exactly I did for those three days, seeing as how I had like, no friends. At one point, on the last day, I was asked to time debate semi's. I had never timed anything, much less debate. Once they figured that out, they went and searched for some other poor junior to time. And then they forced me to time persuasive finals. That was interesting.

There were five speakers in finals. One of the speeches was about honey bees. Another one was about baseball. But the first three were all about cancer. Microwaves cause cancer! Cell-phones cause cancer! Meat causes cancer! You're all going to die! I was quite traumatized.

Anyway. A couple years after that, my best friend joined speech and debate. Now, she said she was only going to do speech that year, and wait on debate. But no. She just had to do debate. And so I was mad at her. For a long time. And I hated debate. Not because of the activity itself, but because of my friend. And I actually promised my other friend that I wouldn't ever do debate ever because it was such a horrible thing. Then one day my mom was all like, 'you're going to this tournament!' And I was like, 'what tournament?' And she was like, 'the one this weekend!' And I was like, 'there's a tournament this weekend?'

So I went to that tournament, and because I had no friends, all I did was time rounds. Not because I was particularly keen on timing debate, but because I wanted timer prizes and I had nothing better to do. And as I was watching debate rounds I realized something. As boring as debate was (I mean, revenue generation is no one's favourite subject), it was also kind of interesting. And at that tournament and the next, I continued realizing that. I tried to hate it, I really did. But then debate camp came around and crushed that hate.

I was going to wait another year before I did speech and just do prep track. But when I went to debate camp and debated for the first time, I realized that it was actually kind of fun. A lot of fun. I prayed about it, and decided to do debate that year.

Just yesterday, I realized (again) that I love speech and debate. Like, a lot. I never thought I'd love speech, much less debate, especially after hating it for so long. But I do. It's kind of my life, which is probably why it'd the only thing I ever talk about besides writing. And getting sent home from MPACT.

Forensics isn't for everyone, but it is for me. It is most definitely for me. And it's for all these reasons I strongly urge an affirmative ballot at the end of today's blog post.

A Whole New Year

(To the tune of 'A Whole New World' from Disney's Aladdin.)

I can show you my speech
Duo, impromptu, mars hill
A dazzling expos,
With fancy boards and lots of flashing lights

I can teach you debate
Take you disad by disad
Topicality, stock issues
A magic Aff-case ride

A whole new year
A new fantastic resolu
No TNW's, or Guantanamo
Or pulling out of Japan

A whole new year
A brand new speech event that's cool
But when I'm watching you, debate that res
I know that I am voting for you
(Now I'm voting for you)

An unbelievable speech
Indescribable HI's
DI's, Duos, Persuasives
Apol, extemp and parli

A whole new year
(Don't you dare drop OI)
A thousand speeches I can love
(Keep your case, it get's better)

I'm like a shooting star
I've come so far
I can't back to novice year

A whole new year
(Every round a surprise)
With great new topics to explore
(Every speech it gets better)

I'll give a new speech there
No time to spare
Let me share this great duo with you

A whole new year
That's where we'll be
A thrilling res
A wondrous speech
For you and me

See? Now they're wearing suits. :D

(Vote affirmative, because it's a new year.)

10 Things I Love About Speech and Debate

There are a lot things great things about speech and debate, so I thought I'd share with you some of my favourites. Now, while these aren't the only things I love, I don't want to make this even longer. Plus, I don't want to have to find a million pictures for all the things I love. Seriously. It took me forever to find all those pictures. You'd better appreciate them. So much so, that you vote affirmative. (Wow, I think that was the first time I put that at the beginning.)

10. Winning Lots of Trophies

So I'm kind of joking about this one, seeing as how I've never actually won a trophie. But I bet it's really exciting, and I would probably love it. I guess that's why it's only number 10. Medals are cool too. I have a couple of those. At some tournaments they award real, tangible green check-marks. I find those rather humorous, actually. They get glitter all over my hands. And my hair.

9. Not Having a Speech this Pattern

I made a tournament. It's called KITOC.

Seriously. I love it when I think I have to rush to a speech because my debate round ended late, then finding out that I have no events that pattern, and thus can sit around and watch other people's speeches. That, or play cards and Apples to Apples Bible Addition. But of course, there is it's evil twin: finding out you actually do have all of your speeches this pattern, and then you have to abandon your intense game of spoons and go give an impromptu speech or something.

8. Having a Speech Go Exactly Ten Minutes

This has only happened to me once. When the timer told me 'Ten minutes exactly.' I was like, "really? That's great!" I swear I almost high-fived the kid. It was even better because it was in semi-finals.  And even better because I was so used to my speech being either 8:10, or 9:36. The same goes for when my impromptu is exactly five minutes, or my constructives exactly eight minutes. Or my- okay, you get the idea.

7. Timing Interps

This is Chandler Lasch. She's really
awesome and you should read her blog.

Specifically duo and HI. Those things are hard to time. Not because of hand signals, because there aren't any. All you have to do is start when they start and stop when they stop. Easy. Timing duo/HI is hard because EVERYONE wants to time interps. Everyone. Everyone wants to time HIs and duos because they'll probably be funny. And everyone loves a funny speech. But some of my favourite interps are dramatic. Some people just don't appreciate a good DI. Poor DI. So under-rated. You should all do a DI. DI's are cool. (BTW, have you noticed that if you pronounce DI like an actual word it sounds like 'die?' Coincidence? I think not.

Me in a suit in
impromptu
finals.

6. Wearing Suits

Some people don't like having to wear suits at tournaments. I love it. Up until NITOC last year (it feels so weird calling it last year) I had a total of three suits. Two of those suits were hand-me-downs from my sister. But we went shopping right before NITOC and got like a million more suits. So I have to decide what suits to wear at tournaments. This will be difficult. Whenever I practice my speech in my room to my stuffed animals, I put on my heels and suit jacket. It just feels more real that way. At NITOC, when I didn't break, I still wore my suit jackets and special debate shirts because I had so many and didn't want them to go to waste.

5. The Awards Ceremony

I can dream!

Back in the (NCFCA) days, the awards ceremony would drag on until midnight. Seriously. We left a tournament at 12:00am one time because the tournament went so late. But no longer is that the case! Awards ceremonies go much quicker no-a-days. And they're a lot of fun. Especially when my friends do awesome things.

4. "Watching" TP Finals

I never used to watch TP finals because they wouldn't let me time it. That was annoying. Then one time my brother broke to TP finals. And that was awesome. But that's a whole other story.  Whenever I watch TP finals, I don't usually do it for the debate. I'm sick of debate by the time the tournament reaches this point. I actually only watch TP finals if a.) my friends are watching. b.) My friends/family are in finals. But since my friends usually watch, I usually watch. And by watch, I mean flow the 1AC then start drawing or passing notes with my friends. One time I took selfies with some friends during prep time. And I made really cool name-tag designs one time. And then all my friends wanted one too. It was a lot of fun, and I don't even remember who was debating.

Yes, I realize this is duo postings.
But duo is kind of like TP, because
there's a team.

3. Ballot Parties

The tournament has ended. Everyone is exhausted and wants to go to bed. So we stay up until 1:00 'talking about ballots.' Truth be told, I'm pretty sure we only spend the first half hour complaning about judges talking about ballots. After that we tell our horror stories from the tournament, play 'baby if you love me' and basically just talk until the hotel staff tells us to shut up. In-N-Out ballot parties are probably my favourite. So yeah. Ballot parties are super awesome. Especially when I discover...

HEY LOOK AT THE TREES!

2. First Place Ballots

Do you remember the first time you got a first place on a ballot? I do. It was at that tournament I broke to finals at. Whenever I broke, I started crying. (Not because I was sad. I couldn't have been happier.) At the awards ceremony, when I got my medal, I started crying.  Whenever I opened up my ballots, half expecting a first, half trying not to hope so I wouldn't be disappointed. Then I found the best ballot in the history of ballots  That judge is the best ever. Not only did he give me my first first place, he voted for me against Rambo/Rambo the sequel. The first round I ever won.

The best ballot ever. Seriously. It
doesn't get better than this ballot.

1. Praying Before Rounds

This is my favourite thing to do before a round starts. I feel nervous, and everyone around me feels nervous. So what do we do? We pray. This is Christian homeschool speech and debate. And sometimes we pray together. That is the best. It helps us remember the reason we do speech and debate: for the glory of God. It's so encouraging when one of my friends asks me to pray before rounds. Especially when we're in the same room together. Like when I broke to impromptu finals, a good friend of mine was also in finals. And we prayed together even though we were competing directly against each other. It was awesome.

Vote affirmative, because there are a lot of awesome things about speech and debate.

(P.S. If you liked this post, you might like SCHSADKL, by Chandler Lasch. It's awesome.)

There's Something I Need to Tell You

Once upon a time, I was a junior. I did a junior speech for two tournaments. Then I gave up because I lost. Four years after I gave up, I un-gave up. Because un-giving up is actually a thing. And after I un-gave up I wrote a speech. And I found evidence. And I went to a tournament. This is a story about my first speech and debate tournament.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I printed off the negative briefs. I finished writing my speech five days before the tournament started. I sort of practiced my speech like once. I was ready for the first tournament I would ever really compete at. Sort of. But the tournament would arrive in spite of my preparedness (or lack there of). And arrive it did.

I put on my (sister's) suit and my brand new heels. I submitted my script and rolled my (sister's) debate box into the student gathering room and realized I was in the wrong place and had to walk where everyone else was. Then I remember that I was on the welcome committee and had to like, open doors or something. But no one came through my door. But finally, the first round was about to begin. I was about to become a real live, actual debater.I ducked between the multitude of well dressed teenagers to see who I would be going against. And there it was.

Rambo/Rambo AFF vs. Gerdt/Jones NEG

That hypothetical situation my debate coach always talked about was unfolding before my very eyes. My partner and me, two novices, versus two super duper advanced debaters. I was pretty much dead before I walked into the room. But I got my giant neg binder out from my (sister's) debate box and plopped it on the table. And I debated. And I lost. But I didn't pass out or throw-up, so according to Mrs. Harding, it was a success. So I shook off Rambo/Rambo and went off to wait for my first ever speech round.

Remember to take off your slippers. Remember to take off your slippers. I told myself. Please help me remember to take off my slippers. I asked God. And please don't let me go against my friend who has the exact same topic as me. I pleaded as I walked towards postings. And (of course) I was going against my friend who had the exact same persuasive topic as me. I bit my lip and walked to my room, constantly repeating the room number to myself. And I sat outside persuasive for awhile. Then I watched a couple duos because I was pretty far down on the list. Then I was late because I was watching duos. Then I remembered to take off my slippers and put on my heels. I got into my room and, saying a quick prayer in my head, I told the judges who I was. And I began speaking.

Introduction? Check. First point? Check. Everything was going fine. I moved into my second point. Half-way through my second point I realized something was wrong. I was giving my genius debate analogy a point too soon. I was in my third point. Did I skip my second point? I froze. For a good twenty seconds I just stared at the wall. What do I do? What do I do? What do I do????? I finally decided that it'd be best if I just kept talking and give my second point third. My judges were very merciful to my extended pause. To say the least. And everything was okay. The end.

I have something to tell all you speech and debaters. First years and sixth years, extempers and interpers, TPers and LDers and Parliers. You. Will. Mess. Up. Sorry to pop your bubble. Actually, I'm not. Better to pop it now, before the first tournament does it. Yes, you're going to mess up. Don't think you won't just because you've been doing this for the past four years. Your expos boards will fall apart the day before the tournament. Your mind will go blank the moment you pick up your impromptu prompt. You will forget to put your heels back on before you go into your persuasive round. Your duo partner will be late to your round. You will forget to print out briefs until it's 11:00PM the night before the tournament. You (or your TP partner) will forget to register for a tournament. You will hit Rambo/Rambo, even though you are a novice and don't deserve such punishment. You will be late for extemp prep. You will get pink eye the day before the tournament (well, maybe not that. But it's possible. Trust me). You will clap after the wrong speech in a debate round.

But you know what you won't do? Die. Not because of any of those thing. You might get pink eye, you might even throw up. But you will not die. The only possible reason you could die from any of the above things happening is if you stop breathing. You will not get sucked into the time vortex because you forgot to change your shoes. You will not get thrown into the debate dungeon you forgot to print off briefs. So BREATHE. In. Out. In and out.

It's going to be okay. Those things don't define you. Not your skills as a speech and debater, and not you as a person. So keep calm... and vote affirmative.

Before We Begin Today's/This Year's Debate Round/Season...

As we near the end of August, school has started for most, there's no more avoiding actually writing that persuasive you've had in your head since March, you can no longer put off researching this year's TP resolution, you make room on the fireplace mantle for the trophies that will inevitably be bestowed upon you. Your debate binders have been cleared out, ready for new evidence, and your box is clear of old CX sticky note. You struggle to stop looking at Doctor Who memes. You reluctantly close the tab that contains a multitude of Pusheen pictures. We look over the cliff that is Summer, and brace ourselves for the descent into the brand new speech and debate/school year. But before we make the plunge, I thought I'd tell y'all the things I'm looking forward to this season.

 (See below for adorable Pusheen pictures.)

This is me right now. ;)

This is my computer right now. ;)

1. Amazing New Speeches!

I know I've said this before, but I like writing. Writing is cool. And when I get trophies and medals for writing well... that just makes it even cooler. Finding a topic is fun, finding points can be a nice challenge, and cutting interps is really hard. Usually. I get to learn new stuff, read new books, and write a ten minute rant on why you shouldn't give up. Wait, that was last year...

2. Awesome New Friends!

Let's be honest here: I had like two friends at the beginning of the 2012-2013 debate season. And while these friends were rather amazing, two is not a very substantial number. But before the year started, I made a decision: I would make new friends. *Gasp!* I tried to talk myself out of it. "But Hadley, you're a homeschooler! You're unsocialized! You can't just go around making 'new friends!' You'll say something stupid! You'll embarrass yourself!" But then I realized: Yes, I will embarrass myself. I'll say something stupid. Like I did that one time when I was all like, 'I'm Conner's brother.' But guess what. I don't even care anymore. You know why? Because neither does anyone else! And if they do, then that is their problem. And so I made friends. Some of these people I had never seen or met before. Others I had technically known for a year or two. But either way, friends I made. And friends are cool. ;)

3. Shiny New Trophies!

Yep. I'm gonna win soooo many trophies. I'm gonna pwn all them novices. I'm gonna make them novices cry! Mwahahahahahaha! Just kidding. The novices are probably going to be making me cry. Because novices are awesome. So instead of shiny new trophies, let's go with Terrific New Novices. That's better. I love novices, mostly because I was one like, two months ago. And I love things that I was two months ago. Well, unless that thing was getting sent home from MPACT.  Anyways. Moving on.

4. Lot's of New Memories

Let's be honest (again), I wasn't exactly looking forward to the 2012-2013 season. Actually, I was dreading it because I knew that I could no longer avoid competing. My mom would not allow it. But the first tournament approached, I couldn't help but be excited. After the tournament, I no longer dreaded tournaments: I looked forward to them because of the stories - the memories I would make. Most of them embarrassing. But embarrassing stories make better stories than stories about you being all cool and stuff. Being awkward is funnier than being cool. But somehow I manage to be both. ;)

5. Interesting New Blog Post Topics

So, I barely posted at all for like, two months. Why? Because nothing interesting happened to me. Why? Because nothing interesting happens to me during the summer. Well, some interesting things. But not a lot. And not interesting enough to write a blog post about. So you should all be thankful that you will now having something interesting to read about. And you'll also have a good reason to vote affirmative. Which you should most definitely do.

Now judge, what can we see from all this? We see that in this near year, there will be amazing new speeches, awesome new friends, shiny new trophies terrific new novices, lot's of new memories, and interesting new blog posts. Basically a whole lot of new stuff. Yep. By voting affirmative, you get a bunch of awesome new stuff. So vote affirmative. ;D

That Amazing Moment When Your Friend Does Something Really Awesome Like Win

Let's face it: trophies can be pretty darn pretty. Like at the Go Light Your World tournament in February. They had these amazing little things. They were glass and had globes on the top of these pillars and it was really cool and I really wanted one. Like, I really wanted one. They were like, the coolest trophies ever.

Anyways. The other day I was looking at pictures of my siblings on Facebook (because I finally got one of those things). There was one picture I saw with me and them, right after a debate tournament. They were all holding trophies. And I wasn't. Despite the fact that the picture was from like, three years ago, I grew a little bit jealous. Yes, even after all I've been through this year, I started wondering, 'why don't I have any trophies? How come I only have eighth place medals and a couple over-glittered check-marks?'

Then I was like, 'Hadley, you're an idiot.' 'No I'm not.' 'Don't be ridiculous. Of course you are! Thinking you need trophies after all you've been through. WOW. Just... WOW.' 'You're right!' "Of course I'm right. I'm always right.' 'You're never right.' 'True...' And that's a conversation I regularly have with myself. ANYWAYS. I still wanted trophies. But I remembered something I learned last year.

One of my favourite parts of a tournament is the awards ceremony. Usually by the end of it, my hands hurt, my throat hurts, my head hurts, my feet hurt and I'm in tears. Sounds like fun, right? Well, the pain and the tears aren't what I like about awards. I also don't like the super long speeches that sometimes come with them. What I do like is my friends pwning faces. It took me awhile to realize this, but it's just as exciting when your friends win something as when you do. *Gasp!*

Seriously. There are few awards ceremonies I have left with dry eyes, and that's because I have amazing friends. I have three friends who have gotten first place in persuasive at a tournament. I have amazing friends who have pwned at impromptu and apologetics and extemp. And debate. And duo. And other events. I scream really loudly at awards. If you know me, then you know that. And I often go home on Sunday without much of a voice. And my hands are sore from a great amount of forensic clapping. And I'm crying because I'm so proud of my friends. And my feet are sore from a great amount of tournamenting. I just made tournamenting a word, in case you were wondering. Tournament is now a verb. So ha ha to you, grammar.

Having awesome friends who do awesome things is awesome. I hope you have awesome friends like I do. And if you don't have awesome friends, I can be your awesome friend. (Yes, I did just call myself awesome, in case you were wondering.) And then you can meet my awesome friends, and I have a lot.

But you don't have to pwn faces at speech and debate to be amazing. While pwning is one way to be amazing, true amazingness comes from other things. Like if a friend wants to pray with you before the round, that's amazing. If a friend congratulates you on winning even when they didn't, that's amazing. If your friend practically tackles you when they see you after going even a little while without you, that's amazing. If a friend is willing to talk about serious stuff, like their faith and their testimony, that's amazing. If a friend talks about stupid stuff like how cute some boy/girl is with you, that's amazing. If a friend helps you laugh at yourself, that's amazing. There are a lot of ways for friends to be amazing, and I'm so blessed to have a lot of friends who are.

Last year (among other things) I learned that as nice as trophies are, and as nice as if feels to break to finals, and as much as I want to win, it's really, really, really awesome when my friends win stuff - maybe even better than winning stuff myself.

So here's to all my awesome friends out there. To those I've had for years, and those I've known for less than one. To the friends who have won first place, and the friends who have only ever gotten 5th and Belows. To the friends I haven't even met yet. You guys are awesome. Don't stop being awesome, okay?

And vote affirmative, because the trophies are really pretty this tournament. ;)

Medals are shiny

Trophies are cool

My friends are awesome

Just like you!

The First Impromptu Speech I Actually Sort of Liked

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. I had speech and debate camp for the last two weeks, and I haven't really had much inspiration. I'm just gonna say that July was my break month. I'll probably post more when the speech and debate season really starts in a couple months. Of course, then I'll also be pretty focused on speech and case writing, partner finding, sleeping, tournaments, and making up figuring out new stories for impromptu, because I really only have four and I'm getting kind of tired of them. Maybe I'll upgrade from the juniors story to the NITOC story. But since you already know that story, I'll tell you that other story I vaguely referenced in this post.

At the first tournament I regretfully did impromptu. I was not a fan of this event, to say the least. But Mrs. Martin would've hacked my registration and signed me up for it, had I refused to do it. I (surprisingly) remember my topics from both of my pathetic rounds: the first was: 'a good example is the best sermon.' So I talked about how Mrs. Martin gives that stupid hand sanitizer story every single club meeting. I don't rememember the rest of that speech. I basically rambled for two minutes and sort of had points, but not really. And the second round: 'classic books - the Adventures of Tom Sawyer, the Red Badge of Courage, Don Quixote.' I had never read any of those books, and couldn't even pronounce Don Quixote. In fact, the judge corrected my pronunciation in the middle of my speech. So because I pretty much knew nothing about any of the books, I rambled about how terrible modern-day books like Twilight and the Hunger Games are, and how the moral of the story is always boyfriends and girlfriends. It was... not good. Fifth and Below on all two of my ballots.

The second tournament came around in January of this year. I wasn't necessarily dreading doing impromptu, but I wasn't exactly thrilled. I had very low expectations for myself and didn't really expect to do anything exceptional. My first topic was a Dr. Suess quote: 'You are you. Now isn't that pleasant?' I'm pretty sure that the judge didn't understand the pure genius of my speech through my braces because they did something really, really, really mean to me. Can you guess what it was? Please take a minute to think this over while reading the rest of this post. Anyway, that speech was pretty much horrible and nothing could be done to save it. Except mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. But that would've been a long shot.

My next two speeches went all right. In fact, I gave the best impromptu speech I had given up to that point. It was the first time (out of club) that I used my Esther story (which I use almost every single impromptu speech now) and I talked about juniors and about Bethany Hamilton. For some reason I never talk about her anymore. The best part was, it was a J.R.R. Tolkien quote, and I had just watched all three of the Lord of the Rings movies a couple of weeks ago. I was very excited. But before I tell you the results on the ballot I got for this round, I'd like to tell you what the mean judge did to me after my first impromptu that tournament.

They circled fifth and below. Isn't that awful? Well, it's not that bad. I mean, a fifth and below could always mean a fifth, right? WRONG! WRONG WRONG WRONG! It most definitely did not mean fifth. How do I know this? Because after circling fifth and below, the judge wrote 8th. 8th! When I saw this horrible judge's rather awful ballot, I proceeded to exclaim (in a very odd, high-pitched voice) 'you're a horrible person!' over and over again as I showed everyone this horrible judge's ballot. The rest of the ballot wasn't even very good. The judge pointed arrows to the 'ethos,' 'pathos,' and 'logos' boxes and wrote 'not sure what these mean.' EVEN THOUGH IT'S WRITTEN RIGHT NEXT TO THOSE WORDS EXACTLY WHAT THOSE WORDS MEAN! Mrs. Martin was awesome enough to take a sharpie to the eighth, but I still see the black mark whenever I see that ballot, and I know what lies under it.

But on my other two ballots I got fourths, and some good advice about how to improve my speaking. At least, I think there was good advice. The point is, it was the first time I started enjoying impromptu. I didn't love it yet, but I was starting to enjoy it.

At the next tournament, I remember giving the first impromptu speech I actually loved. It was the second round of the tournament, and my topic was, 'if I were a book...' which was totally obscure and weird and everyone else hated those topics. I kind of hated them too. But I love books. So I ranted for three points and five minutes about how awesome books are. It was the first time I talked about C.S. Lewis, who I also use in a lot of my speeches, and I talked about how I alphabetized my bookshelf. And how everyone should read the Bible.

Whenever someone asked me how that round went, I would say, 'awesome,' or 'fantastic,' or something to that extent. It's definitely not the best impromptu speech I've ever given, but it was one of the most fun. And that's what really matters, isn't it? Don't coaches and stuff always say, 'it's not about winning; it's about having fun.' At least that's what they said in Arthur. Anyway, it was a really fun speech. I got to talk about something that I love, instead of just something that was relevant to the topic but I didn't really care about. I got a third on that ballot- the highest I had ever gotten on a ballot. It was, of course, overshadowed by the two firsts I got in persuasive, but that's another story.

To the people watching grow in my impromptu skills, it seemed as though I was starting to like impromptu as I started to get better at it, but it was the reverse: I started to get better at impromptu as I started to like it. If you don't enjoy something you do, then you're probably not that fantastic at it. At least, that's how it is when it comes to me and speaking and stuff. It really annoys me when people complain about breaking. I'm just like, 'uhm.... seriously?' You're literally complaining about winning. I just want to know why. I really don't understand. Please explain the motivation behind such offensive actions. Yes, I am offended. Why are you offending me? Are you just an offensive person in general? Or is this abnormal behaviour? *Coughcoughkalebcoughcough* Anyway. Impromptu is awesome. I'm kind of mad at Stoa for kind of sort of abolishing it.

I never thought I would like impromptu, much less love it. But then again... 'still round the corner there may wait, a new road or secret gate.'

And it's for all these reasons, that of kitkats, impromptu, J.R.R. Tolkien quotes and national security, that I strongly urge an affirmative ballot at the end of today's debate round. *Clap clap clap.*

The quote from my first enjoyable impromptu round.