By Prescott Osuchukwu
After double-qualifying for the Texas Forensics Association State debate tournament, the Speech and Debate team went to Houston and competed against hundreds of the top debaters in the state. Although the students did not advance to finals, they say they gained a lot from the experience.
“It was a great learning opportunity,” senior Sam Nohra said.
To qualify, the seven debaters who competed had to accumulate at least 12 points over the course of the season, which many said is very challenging to do. Having earned 24 points during the season, seniors Berryman Toler, Prescott Osuchukwu, Nanette Elufa and sophomore Jacob Redmon were among the few debaters who double-qualified for the competition.
Both Nohra and Toler qualified for the competition last year but fell short of advancing to to the final rounds. This year, Toler advanced to quarter-finals in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking. Redmon, Toler’s debate partner, competed in Prose Interpretation but did not advance past the preliminaries.
“I had prepared for a long time so that I would succeed at the tournament,” Redmon said. “However, the results were not what I had expected.”
Besides the returning debaters, there were some first-year qualifiers as well. Junior Tucker Smith started the year off as a novice member, but ended up qualifying for Student Congress.
“I was grateful that I was given the opportunity to join some of the best in state and get to know my peers,” Burns said.
As the students reflect on the experience, senior Xavier Burns says she enjoyed the experience and hopes that the team will achieve greater accomplishments in future tournaments.
“The competition was tough, but lessons learned are more important than any trophy or medal I could take away,” Smith said.