Coming full circle with the Berkeley Speech & Debate Invitational
Two years ago as a sophomore (and a novice in speech), I ventured out into the world of national circuit Speech & Debate by competing at Berkeley for the first time.
It was the first tournament organized by the “Arcadia Debate Forum,” which would later grow exponentially in size, prominence, and emotional significance.
That tournament in 2009 was an amazing, eye-opening experience. It was the first time I had traveled via plane to a tournament and competed outside our local league. I still vividly remember running across Berkeley campus in a suit, carrying a small black umbrella as rain poured down from the skies above. I didn’t recognize anybody as a competitor in Original Oratory, lost in the sea of over 250 other orators. When I didn’t break, I learned one of the most important lessons of Speech & Debate: your experience is defined by your own attitudes and actions, not the trophy you earn.
That tournament was pivotal. I promised myself that I would qualify to State Champs that year, ultimately write and legitimately compete in Original Oratory, come back to Berkeley the next year, and one day rise to the same level as those who I watched competing in finals.
I kept every single promise.
In 2010, Arcadia Debate Forum returned, now with double the number of people.
We had a blast eating crepes, exploring Telegraph, running across campus in the rain, staying up late in the hotel at night, and bonding as a team. In 2010, I also decided to be adventurous and try doing duo with Carl and Public Forum with Andrew. Both were amazing decisions and although triple-entering was one of the most physically-exhausting things I have ever done, the reward and fun made it all worth it.
And so now it is 2011….
This past weekend was the last Berkeley Invitational and the last national circuit Invitational I will ever attend. I haven’t been able to blog since Thursday night because triple-entering meant preparing my speeches/debate into the early morning hours, waking up at 6 AM, debating/speaking all day, returning to the hotel around 11 PM, and prepping again for the next day before catching a few hours of sleep.
I’ll try to summarize everything……
Friday:
I woke up at 6 AM and got to school at 7 AM to take an AP Statistics Test. The Friday we planned to leave unfortunately coincided with an AP Stats Test, but Michelle and I worked it out with Mr. Walker so we could take the test from 7 AM - 8 AM before we left at 8 AM so we didn’t have to miss a test.
We left for Burbank airport around 8 AM and everything was very smooth. We had a good two hours to kill in the airport, which we spent prepping for debate (we were pretty much screwed in terms of preparation). The flight was short (only 1:05) and before we knew it, we were in Oakland Airport.
We got our rental cars and headed to our hotel, the DoubleTree at the Berkeley Marina. The hotel was humungous and right on the beach (by beach, I mean NorCal beach….so no sand or sun…), but it was still very pretty. I was very pleased with how smoothly everything went. We went to a grocery store to buy snacks and food for the next three days before heading to Sabuy Sabuy II for dinner.
The picture above was taken at dinner, and Andrew Chang (if you read my blog, you probably know all about him already) was able to join us because he attends UC Berkeley. It was great to see him again and he returned to the hotel with us to help us prep for debate (and his help ultimately was invaluable to our success).
That night, I also met Elijah Goldberg for the first time. In the past two years, I have exchanged probably thousands of emails and hundreds of phone calls with him, but I have never met him in person. He lives in the Bay Area and we work on political organizations and non-profits together. I am convinced he will rule the free world in a few decades because his leadership and drive is unheard of for a high schooler. He acts like he is at least fifty years old, but we ended up connecting really well and I look forward to projects with him in the future.
That night, Patrick, Gina, Andy, and I stayed up until 3 AM finishing our cases and filing evidence.
Saturday:
The day started early at 6 AM as the debaters (we entered in Public Forum) had a 7:45 AM round. Patrick and I had a very smooth and successful first round (and we were judged by a coach who I had coincidentally met at Nationals, but didn’t realize until after the round ended). At 9 AM, Round 1 for Speech was held, which meant running across campus in the rain as Oratory and Duo are held in the same pattern.
Oh right, it was raining on Saturday…bummer. Rain in a suit on a tournament day just isn’t a good mix.
Anyway, Saturday lunch was amazing because we had planned a SNFI reunion. About fifteen people showed up and it was so great to see everybody back together again. It was funny because we were standing and talking and some random person walks up and says, “look how happy everybody is! You guys are all smiling!” We didn’t realize it at the time, but we probably seemed so elated to be back together again. Those two weeks at SNFI were amazing (that word seems to recur throughout this post) and I was glad that a large part of the SNFI group was able to get together for lunch. We ate at Naan ‘N Curry and Lou and Roise went around talking to each of the kids and giving them advice for the rest of the Speech year.
Then came Public Forum Debate Round 2 (succcessful) and following that, Speech Round 2, followed by another debate round. I had dinner around 9 PM at Chipotle before returning to the hotel for more prep. Patrick and I ended the day going 3-0 in Public Forum (yay for being undefeated :D)
Sunday:
Once again, the day started early with debate. Luckily, we had time to return to the hotel for a good two hours after debate round 4 before debate round 5 (and I took a much-needed nap). Speech round 3 was in the late afternoon, followed by debate round 6. Patrick and I ended the prelim debate rounds going 5-1, so we were seeded 22nd going into outrounds.
Speech breaks came up after that and I broke both in Duo and Oratory (and Alex E. broke in DI!). Those rounds were fun, but it ended around 10 PM. We got back to the hotel around 11 PM and ordered pizza for dinner as we waited for Quarterfinal breaks.
Ultimately, I broke again in Duo and Oratory, so Michelle and I decided that we needed to practice. However, there was nowhere in the hotel we could do an all-out practice run because it was midnight and the hotel was dead silent. So as a solution, we went in the elevator, which is kind of soundproof. Luckily, nobody needed to use the elevator at midnight or else it would have been hella awkward (yes, that’s right. I just said hella. Deal with it….I spent 4 days in NorCal).
Monday:
Monday morning was tough because I broke in all three events, but breaks all run in the same pattern. I ran to Oratory Quarterfinals to speak first, before running across campus to Duo Quarterfinals, then I ran back to the middle of campus for Public Forum Triple-Octos.
Patrick and I lost that round to a Miramonte team. It was a hard-fought debate but ultimately we lost because we didn’t prove our causal links well enough. It was fair and I really enjoyed my time in debate doing research, writing cases, running from round to round, learning to flow on my computer, and giving my 10 Voter Issues Final Focus of Death.
Michelle and I also failed to advance past Quarterfinals in Duo.
We were happy with our results but a bit annoyed at how duos now are advancing with cheap tech and sound effects like beat boxing instead of scripts with meaning and depth of character. Of course, the nature of speech itself is subjective, but we were happy to come across several people and judges who appreciate the simplicity of our piece.
I made it to finals of Original Oratory…
It felt great to finally make it to finals after two years where I failed to advance past Quarterfinals in any event. I had so much fun just performing and passing on my message to the audience that sat in that auditorium watching the Oratory final round.
We got some “lunch” (it’s in quotes because it was around 4 PM) at Gypsy’s, which had really great Italian food at even more impressive prices (large entree of seafood pasta for $6). We went back for awards but came to the realization halfway through that if we stayed for the entire ceremony, we would miss our flight. So, instead of staying and accepting my award for Oratory and the award Michelle and I got for Duo, we left and headed to the airport.
I got a few phone calls in the airport that I placed 3rd in Oratory. We ate a little bit before boarding the plane ride to head home. I slept a large part of that flight simply because I was so exhausted. We got back to Arcadia around 11 PM and it felt great to lie in my own bed without worrying about my speeches or my debate case.
Whew. That was lengthy and verbose….
So, I guess this is an important step in marking the end of my high school Speech & Debate career. It’s not over yet, but this trip really made me realize that I won’t be running in the rain across campus next year. It helped me embrace an attitude that I should make the best out of everything because soon, I won’t have this world of forensics with me anymore.
One of the best parts of the tournament would have to be seeing all my Speech & Debate friends again. Over the past few years, I have met a lot people from all across the country who do every event, and I always love that moment where I see somebody I haven’t seen in months for the first time. It was great reuniting with my SNFI family, catching up with the Monte Vista Nationals team, bumping into various competitors I have met in rounds, and even meeting new people.
I am wholly content with how Berkeley turned out. It was HELLA successful (like I said before…deal with it :P) and I was most glad that at the end of the day, all of Arcadia Debate Forum smiled and raved about how much fun they had this weekend.
By now, this entire experience of Speech & Debate has grown beyond myself, in that I am no longer most concerned with what and how I do. This is all for the younger students who are still in the heart of their Speech & Debate careers, who will soon conquer the vast world of forensics, and who will discover their own potential, drive, and the countless number of life lessons that this activity will teach.
So here we are, making a full circle. It’s interesting how things turn out, huh?
