I swear that anyone who bothers to read my blog will begin to be sick of debate, but this event has become my life, literally. Thursday and Friday was National Qualifiers, (you know where debaters and speechers qualify to go to Nationals) Anyway. So Carissa and I were a PF team for our school. along with Megan and Savhannah, and Mason and Ciah. We also had 3 LD-ers, Rayanne, Kaden, and Jake and several Policy teams. at this specific tournament you are guaranteed 2 rounds. After that you have to break. once you lose twice you are out of the competition.
Thursday
When I got there most of our team was there and so I went and sat with them while we waited for postings to go up. Once they did Carissa and I headed to our first round. However, the rounds were double flighted. Which makes for a kind of long wait, you have to get done w/ your round and then wait for the 'B' flight to be done before they can post. Anyway, we got to our room for the first round. The guys we were going against were already there and we talked to them for a bit. then our judge got there. She seemed like she knew what she was doing and was well prepared. We flipped, they chose second speaker and we chose Affirmation and we were off and running. After Carissa and I got out we felt like it could have gone either way and we weren't sure who had won.
So we went back to where our team was and Rayanne and Jake were already done so we started to study for the AP test we had the next day, we also talked to Rayanne. Then Rayanne and Kaden did a lovely duet of "I can go the distance". and this is all while we are waiting for postings to go up. Needless to say Carissa and I got very little studying done.
When second round postings went up we found out we were on the 'B' flight. That required some waiting, but we decided waiting by our room would be better than waiting elsewhere. so we went to our room. It happened to be the same room we were in for the last round, so I sat down and tried to study some more. But the syracuse baseball team came into the hall and who can study while a bunch of people are gabbing right in front of you. Ciah and Mason happened to be down the hall so we went and talked to them. after awhile I ended up just pacing. during this tournament I determined I am a nervous fiddler/ pacer. Anyway so finally the "A" flight was done and we were able to go in. Our judge's pen died and so Carissa and I were able to be of assistance and led her some pens (did we make a good impression or what?!) anyway. So we got into the round and the other team was really okay. Though they brought in some decidedly LD and Policy terms, but whatever. Going out of that round we were once again iffy on whether we had won or not.
This was the moment of truth (frankly there were many moments of truth during Nat Quals) You had to break to the third round. To do so you had to've had a win-win or a win-loss. A loss-loss and you were out. Postings finally went up and. . .. .3UH was on there. Yippee we were moving on! Carissa and I had mixed feelings about this, and we weren't sure if we were okay w/ moving on. but in the end all worked out. However, Ciah and Mason, the only varsity team there, weren't moving on. Savhannah and Megan were though.
So we went up to our third round where we were once again "A" flight. we were against two other girls that seemed pretty good. We went in there and debated. The one thing about this round that bugged me is that the other team did not keep their own time very well. Carissa and I don't normally time the other team but we did time them that time. their first speaker went over the four minutes by about 30 seconds. Each and everyone of their speeches went over time! that was just slightly annoying. But going out of that round we were fairly certain we had won.
but once again we were awaiting the moment of truth. Postings. These postings determined whether or not we had to come back on Friday. When they finally went up, Carissa had left already. and to my astonishment, we were not on the 'Out" list! so we were back for tomorrow. Sadly, Megan and Savhannah were. LD went up as I was leaving. Jake was the only LD-er to move on.
Friday
Friday when I got to Syracuse school was just getting out. I was the only one from Davis there so far (though there were only 3 of us going to be there). So I kinda just sat at one of the Lunch Tables and read my biography for English. Jake got there and we chatted just a little bit. Carissa got there and we waited Patiently (whatever) for postings to go up. Postings finally went up and we headed for our room. We got there. and then we were told to go back and look again cuz they'd messed it up. Then we went to our new room. and they told us to go back a third time because they'd messed it up again. finally we got the rooms sorted out and we were going against a team from Morgan. they were friendly enough guys. Our judge admitted that he normally judged policy and I once more got to show off how prepared I am when he needed two different colored pens.
The debate went really well and we felt we were able to combat each of their points with good logic and sufficient evidence. When we completed the round the judge gave us some debating advice. it was really helpful to think about and eventually implement. When we got our ballots back from this round he told me that I could be professional w/out coming across so 'cold'. I didn't know I came across cold . .. . but that's a-okay :).
Then another moment of truth. did we break? and . . . . yes we did. This time I recognized the names next to ours. We were to be debating a kid in my ward. we got to the room and we were able to hold our own against them. . .though we didn't win. We knew that from the moment we started to debate.
Now there was another moment of truth. because 2 of the teams we had previously debated had stayed in the competition. either we had been undefeated up to that point, or we were about to be out.
So needless to say we were a bit nervous. But . . . . . . . . . . . . our name wasn't on the out list!!!!!!!! we were once again in and (it gets better!) we had a bye. So we were able to sit around while better teams than us kicked each other around. We knew that this round would eliminate at least 4 of the remaining 9 teams. through our deductive reasoning skills we figured that each team had at least one loss. so we decided to relax. Carissa read her book and I read different books for about 10 minutes before I got a bit restless and decided to roam. I wandered near and far. I think I know that school pretty well. eventually I realized that I could figure out who some of the competition was. So I went back downstairs to get a notepad and pen. I told Carissa I was going 'spying' and she decided to come with me. So, once again using our amazing deductive reasoning skills we were able to find out many of the names of different teams. by this time they were almost done. so we went back to our stuff to once more await postings.
When postings went up we watched to see who was out and lucky for us one of our top worries was out of the competition. Yet we were going against the opponents that they had just beaten. Were we worried? YES!!!!!!!!!! you might say that. We got into our round. And once again, from the beginning of their speeches I knew they were good, that they were fabulous, that I had know idea what I was going to say, and that there was no way we could out-argue these wonderfully talented young men. That was a loss from the beginning.
After the round they were so nice and courteous. they asked what school we were from and when we told them they asked us if we knew this kid that had moved from our school to their's last year. we said no, we're sophomores. You could tell that the two of them were a little taken aback. Carissa and I ended up walking out a little bit ahead of them. as we went down the stairs they caught up to us and thanked us for not yelling and giving a good final focus. They both said that every girl-girl team they have gone up against has yelled and that we were a good break to the mold. We told them they were fantastic too. and they complemented us on being in the Finals as sophomores (honestly I wish more guys were as courteous as they were, cuz they were very courteous.
So then we had the announcements. Hyer beckoned us over and we were able stand with her as the announcements were made. Carissa and I are the second alternatives!!!! if two teams drop out we could potentially be going to nationals!!!! the 3rd qualifying team was the team we beat. and the top 2 qualifying teams were the teams that beat us. It made me have a huge self-esteem boost. anyway. So the competition was over and Hyer was able to give us our ballots right then. as we came back down the stairs the last opponents we faced were going to their bus. each of them told us once again that it was amazing we had made it that far, and we told them their spot to nationals was well earned.
Then . . . . well lets just say I went and celebrated with some friends! because i did and it was a great way to wind down from a perfectly wonderful two days!!!!
