Vanderbilt Supplement A

I first joined debate as a reluctant ninth grader at the behest of my parents. It was not until my first tournament that I began to see not only the value but the beauty in debate. The best debaters' approaches were in no way formulaic, they were dynamic. The debaters possessed a stunning ability to account for incoming information and synthesize it into a coherent, compelling speech - right there on the spot. In order to be convincing, you have to be creative, and nothing encourages spontaneity like the pressures of the debate arena. Recently during a debate tournament we were given a resolution about equalizing pay for professional athletes by gender and even though I had to debate against what I actually believe I was able to quickly draw on knowledge from my Economics class in order to make the point that the proposition was not feasible. Debate also highlighted to me the importance of confidence. Every debater knows the discomfort of watching someone who's trapped in their head deliver a speech. Debate taught me that the only way to avoid this is to let go of any attachment to the outcome of one's performance. In this way, I've found debate has been an irreplaceable tool for me to not only express my creativity but also become more confident as a speaker and a person, while providing me a platform to explore my own thoughts and beliefs about current affairs.