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?