People Who Win - The Third Year Chronicles #23

Every tournament, someone walks away with a first place trophy.

Usually around eighteen someones, actually. Some of these people win all the time. They have to clear space on their bookshelf or wherever they put their trophies every time they come home from tournaments. Medals dangle from their first place trophies and tiny judge-hammers (some call them gavels) lean against their books.

In my 2.5 years of speech and debate (and the five years before that), I've noticed that there are two types of winners.

These are the people who are used to winning (not just people I tease about being used to winning). They expect it. They gain popularity because people want to be seen around the people who win. Then they mistake popularity for friendship. They think that, no matter how they act, as long as the keep winning (which, of course, the will) they'll gain friends. This is where they go wrong the most. These 'friendships' are shallow and fade away once dust settles on those trophies. Winning gets you recognition. Winning pulls you up Speechranks. Winning does not win you friends.

But there's another kind of winner.

I can think of a few of my friends who win. Their names are fairly well known. People come up to them and ask them about the tournament they won. They're recognized at out of state tournaments. People come up to them and ask to touch their hair. But, regardless of all this, these friends of mine are extremely humble (don't let it go to your heads).

My close friends who have placed high or won tournaments haven't changed because of it. They don't act any differently than before. They don't treat the people who don't win any differently. They have a lot of friends, yes, but not because they win. They have friends because they are friends. They treat people with kindness and humility and love, regardless of the amount of green check marks or medals others have.

They have friends, not just popularity. They have meaningful conversations, not just trophies.

Over the last two weeks of tournamenting, I've learned that while winning is fun, it doesn't last. Friendships do.

Vote affirmative, and be the second type of winner.

(This post is part of a series called The Third Year Chronicles. Click here for TTYC #22)

No Regrets - The Third Year Chronicles #22

I had barely unpacked my suitcase before having to pack my suitcase.

Before now, I've never had two consecutive tournaments. Last week, I was in Missouri for (duh) a tournament. This one was pretty different from other tournaments I've been to. I had never been to a tournament in MO before. There was a lot of snow and ice (snow would've been great, if I hadn't been wearing pencil skirts and heels). Parli and extemp, two of the three events I did, were both on Wednesday, so I only had motivational the rest of the time. Plus, a lot of my friends weren't there.

At the tournament this weekend (GLYW), most of my friends will be there, I have something both speech patterns as well as parli. It'll be the fourth time I've been to this tournament, and it's always been one of my favorites.

But the craziest part about this whole thing is that these tournaments are only a few days apart from each other. I almost didn't go to GLYW this year because of a conflict with another event this weekend. I'm really looking forward to it. Also, I'm nervous because I need another check in parli and in motivational plus I'm doing a speech I literally memorized today.

But I'm not regretting the decision to do both tournaments. I had a blast in Missouri. I'll probably have a blast in Tyler. They're different, yes. But that's not bad. Maybe I'll do a tournament recap. It's been a while since I've done that.

Vote affirmative. I have to go pack. Again.

(This post is part of a series called The Third Year Chronicles. Click here for TTYC #21)

The Side Affects of Tournamenting - The Third Year Chronicles #21

We're halfway through February, and I've already been to five tournaments. At this time my first year, I had been to two tournaments. In these weeks since the last tournament, I've noticed that these days are different from days in the summer, or during Christmas break, or in the month preceding NITOC. Going to tournaments has its own risks and side affects.*

The first and most apparent of these is the general lethargy (tiredness). There's research to do and speeches to write and speeches to memorize and other things to procrastinate. The exhaustion comes primarily from the emotional output that occurs during tournaments. Basically, there's a lot of nerves and excitement and sometimes disappointment, and so many emotions ranging from all of these to even more and it's honestly draining sometimes.

Another side affect is the increase in inside jokes. Say, for instance, 'you're my favorite,'  or, 'the fact stands.' And of course there are the stories to tell about tournaments. like going to 'California' or not being able to breathe during my extemp speech and still getting ranked 2nd in the room.

There's also the new set of tournament results to stalk on Speechranks, And the blog inspiration that may or may not come (not really coming this month), but that may just be me and my other blogging friends.

There's also the friendships built and strengthened, the experience gained, and all the beautiful, shiny trophies the knowledge acquired. But mostly friends.

Vote affirmative, because you know it's worth the risk.

*Side affects mentioned in this post have not been scientifically proven or tested, nor do they have anything to do with science at all.

(This post is part of a series called The Third Year Chronicles. Click here for TTYC #20)

Tournament Hangover - The Third Year Chronicles #20

A lot of things happen at tournaments. There's rounds, of course. but aside from those. Conversations and running to rooms and giving speeches and prepping resolutions and being nervous before breaks and waking up early and going to bed late and--I could go on, but I'm writing the tournament re-cap later, and you probably already know all that besides.

So you get home from tournaments and you don't want to do anything. You don't want to think about filing extemp articles or writing your speech. I always feel like I should write a blog post, but I'm too exhausted to do much of anything. And there's unpacking and laundry and school and no wonder debaters almost always do school through the summer.

And then a few days later, we're back in the swing of things. Filing and formatting and mathing and writing. And then a couple of weeks later you freak out because oh my gosh there's a tournament this weekend and I still have laundry to do. And you know what happens next.

Vote affirmative. I'm too tired to figure out why you should. You're smart. Just read the flow. If your handwriting is legible...

(This post is part of a series called The Third Year Chronicles. Click here for TTYC #19)

The Crazy Stuff - The Third Year Chronicles #19

I can't believe my eyes.

I've heard of this happening to others, but the stories of past years and months and tournaments seemed distant, totally apart from my own life. Sure, some weird things had happened to me. We've all gotten the blank 5th and below ballots, or the comments about our hair our clothes. But this? This was ridiculous.

I must have said something out loud, probably 'no' or, more likely, 'NO!!', because the table has turned its full attention to me, something that rarely happens. I read a few comments off the ballot to explain my outrage. My best friend takes the ballot from me, possibly in disbelief to make sure the ballot really said that. Her wide eyes fly over the sloppy but legible handwriting on the ballot. Then, without a moment's hesitation, she rips the paper in two. My jaw drops. I think I should be upset with her, but instead I just wish I had done it myself.

That ballot lost me a check mark. I questioned for days how on earth this could have happened. It was frustrating and infuriating. I had to remind myself not to be mad at the team that got that ballot since it was not their fault.

Over the last couple of years, a lot of weird, bizarre, crazy things have happened to me and my friends. Wacky arguments, new in the two, rounds won on speaks, rounds lost on socks. It would be easy to spend out time complaining about these things. They do make for pretty good stories. But these things aren't what matter.

We shouldn't focus on the crazy stuff that drive us to a point of temporary insanity. There's a reason we hardly spend any time talking about ballots at the 'ballot' party. Sure, these things are fun to talk about. I'm not telling you to stop telling stories about the wonky things that happen in rounds or the ridiculous comments on ballots. That's fine. That's good. But don't focus on those things.

Laugh at inside jokes and your own awkwardness and your friends' stories. Don't let the crazy stuff that happens take away the amazingness of tournaments and speech and debate in general. That's not what it all comes down to.

Vote affirmative, even if that ballot was crazy.

(This post is part of a series called The Third Year Chronicles. Click here for TTYC #18)

CHSADK Memes - The Third Year Chronicles #18

I have 277 pins on my CHSADK Pinterest board. That's more than my clothing and wedding dress boards combined. Here are some of my favorite debate-related memes (courtesy of Pinterest and NCFCA Memes).

This one is great because it is both a debate joke and an Incredibles reference

Or hanging around trying to get your mom's attention so you can put your box in the car.

Every time...

What's the difference?

...yeah, my life is just debate.

Do I see another Taylor Swift parody??

The forensic clap should be adopted in all areas of life.

Mom signed me up...

Every time I see a "your argument is invalid" meme, this is what I think...

Unfortunate, but true.

Vote affirmative, because debate memes are hilarious.

(This post is part of a series called The Third Year Chronicles. Click here for TTYC #17)

Halfway - The Third Year Chronicles #17

I have been doing speech and debate for two and a half years.

In two and a half years I will graduate.

That makes this the halfway point

I suppose I should look back at everything I've learned after all this time, but I don't have to. I've learned it, haven't I? Otherwise there's no point in looking at what I've learned because then I haven't learned anything. So rather than look back at what I've learned and rehash those points, I think it's better to take these things and teach you. Maybe this counts as looking back at what I've learned, but I hope that even more, you learn from my experiences.

I learned to love speech and debate. Of my now eighty blog posts, 57 of those are speech and debate related. I named this blog after a speech event (and also a delicious candy).  My friends get on to me about how much I love forensics. I'm not saying you should love speech and debate. I admit it's not for everyone. But there's something out there that you'll be great at, something you'll love. Maybe it's forensics, maybe it's sports. Maybe it's writing or teaching. I don't know. But God made you with a passion for something. Something you'll love like I love speech and debate.

I learned to make friends. I learned to step out and start conversations. I learned how to encourage other CHSADKs and other people in general. I learned what makes a friend a friend and hopefully how to be that. Losing a friendship taught me a lot about the subject. I learned that some friendships fade and some last. I learned that you often have to fight. I learned that friendship isn't about feelings--it, just like love, is a choice. We have to choose to put the effort into other people to be their friend.

I learned what is important. Really: it's not about the trophies. We hear this so much as debaters. And even though I was on the gov side of a resolution that implied debate was about winning, that's not why we really compete in forensics. It's about learning and growing, and it's about the relationships. As one of my friends once said, "people don't join debate for the competition. They do it for the community, friendships, and future marriages."

I learned that people are my favorite. Even though it's still sometimes hard for me to make friends, I love people. All people. I do need to be alone sometimes and take a break from people, but I don't like being alone all of the time. I love making people smile and laugh and I love getting to help people, in whatever way that may be.

There's more than that, but those are a few general things. I could write a whole blog post about each of those things, and maybe I will (and I have). I don't know what the next 2 1/2 years will hold, and I don't have to. I won't try and guess or predict how well I'll do or how far I'll go. That's not for me to know right now. I suppose that's another thing I learned: not to try and figure out what happens next.

Vote affirmative, or just learn how.

(This post is part of a series called The Third Year Chronicles. Click here for TTYC #16)