Could the skills learned in high school speech and debate be part of the solution to the culture’s ideological conflict and political division? I believe the answer is yes. Participating in debate is the best way to learn one crucial skill that is incredibly needed and often overlooked. Debate requires students to fairly evaluate views that they don’t hold…
Continue reading “Learn to Think Like Your Opponent: Why Debaters Thrive in the Real World by: Liliana Zylstra”
Neatly Wrapped, Rarely Used
So there I was… 16 years old, hiding under a table, scared to death of one thing: reading a children’s book in front of 30 people. In that moment, I realized something was wrong. I had been in speech club for 7 years. Why was I still afraid of public speaking?
Continue reading “Still Afraid of Public Speaking? by Chloe Peters”
I love when students reach out to me saying the Lord put something on their heart and they want to share it with our community (yes, you could do that too!). The journey through Speech and Debate is unique, we are each are on our own path. Yet, I love where we intersect, learn lessons, and share what we have learned with others. Regardless of the year you had last year, I hope you can reflect back and think about what the Lord was pressing upon you… are you ready for a new season!?
Continue reading “A Speech and Debate Reflection by: Cate Baldacci”
“If I throw away my shot, is this how you’ll remember me?
What if this bullet is my legacy?
Legacy! What is a legacy?
It’s planting seeds in a garden you never get to see
I wrote some notes at the beginning of a song someone will sing for me
America, you great unfinished symphony, you sent for me.”
Now I could go on and finish the next 6 minutes and 21 seconds of the 2 hour and 22-minute musical and many of you would join me however as entertaining as that would be this short passage from Hamilton has one word that we should focus on.
Legacy. What is a legacy?
All the definitions that I found of a legacy pertain to money or what you leave behind after you die. However it most commonly used as your reputation, how people will perceive you.
A legacy is how people will remember you through all three stages of your life. Beginning, Middle, and End.
Much similar to life Speech and Debate has a beginning a middle and an end. More importantly it has people, people who will shape your life in one way or another. I am proud to say some of my best friends have come from speech and debate. Whether they are you in the Omaha Knights, or other clubs around the nation Speech and Debate has connected us to all develop with one another and learn from each other. Iron sharpens Iron.
Continue reading “Speech and Debate Legacy Devotion by: Hannah Zink”
Every year in the Speech and Debate World there are new relationships formed. Who would have thought during a Covid year or this season this could or would still happen? I am oh so happy it did!! You see, we say it’s not just about the competition, I truly hope you get that! Logan does…
Continue reading “And Just Like That – It’s Over By: Logan Hickman”
No one likes to feel judged, but how can you be a winner, unless you have judges who weigh your performance against a set of standards? Do you know how many times I’ve seen students look ONLY at the ranks on the ballots and then toss them aside? I’ve also seen students discount a ballot because “it was only from a community judge” or “that guy didn’t know anything.” These are not mature responses to ballots.
Ever caught yourself feeling unprepared for the upcoming season or generally in need of speech and debate resources? You’re in luck! From clubs, coaching, and mentoring to downloadable pdfs, Lasting Impact! has you covered! If you’ve ever wondered what the resources Lasting Impact! offers are, look no further! Lasting Impact! is available for all to enjoy, however membership does have privileges. Why do we offer a membership? Lasting Impact! is a community, think of it as a giant club! We have members all over the world. A few of the membership benefits are- receive discounts on coaching, clubs, and classes, as well as free access to our video gallery and the recorded workshops. Membership is ONLY $35 for the year!! As a Christmas and New Year’s BONUS you can use the code MEMBER5 for $5 off!!! If you don’t want to be a member but want to be up to date on what we offer, be sure you SUBSCRIBE to our website and give us your email on the right hand side of the HOME page.
In addition to the over 400 articles (and counting) posted at the Lasting Impact! site written for Speech and Debaters, in mind, as well as parents, coaches, and club leaders, here is an outline everything available in the lastingimpact.info SHOP (think Christmas gifts)…
Continue reading “Lasting Impact! One Stop Resource”
There’s nothing like Thanksgiving to put you in the spirit of feeling thankful! I know many of us are tired, overwhelmed, or even frustrated. But I believe we still have much to be thankful for…
Continue reading “Still Thankful for Speech and Debate”
I was your classic speech and debate nerd. For three and a half years of my life, I poured my blood, sweat, and tears into the sport that had become one of my greatest passions. Over the course of my Speech and Debate career, I went to numerous camps, outsourced ten different coaches, and heard more lectures than I can count. I attended 35 tournaments, participated in 220 debate rounds, and competed in every event except for Expository. You could say I was obsessed with Speech and Debate. But it wasn’t until my senior year was abruptly cut short by COVID-19 that I truly took a step back from the competition to reflect on my experience throughout my time in forensics. It wasn’t until my senior year that I actually understood the impact Speech and Debate had on my life, in both positive and negative ways. It wasn’t until my senior year that I realized the opportunities I wish I had taken and the lessons I wish I had understood.
Continue reading “Lessons Learned Outside of Competition Through Speech and Debate by: Adrian King”
Heather and I have been at this Lasting Impact! effort for almost four years now. Perhaps you knew us before and have been with us for the whole journey. Perhaps you are new to the Lasting Impact! family. Either way, we want to take a moment this year to welcome you and to remind you of who we are.
Continue reading “Lasting Impact: Remembering Who We Are”
This is my first full week at home in a long time! Lasting Impact! covered a lot of ground this summer! We reached well over 500 students and parents, traveled from coast to coast, went from way down south to the frozen tundra. And all in all – God was there… where ever we went! These were some of our take aways…
Continue reading “Thank You for an AWESOME Summer!”
If you were to ask my parents, they would have diagnosed me with a strong case of senioritis this year. For those of you blessed to not know the meaning of this term, senioritis refers to when students nearing graduation experience a precipitous drop in motivation towards their academic studies. Symptoms may include: dropping 2 AP exams, a decline in grade performance, and a sudden desire to embark on world travel. At least, that’s what I assume it’s like for other seniors?!
But being a senior this past year has caused me to reflect on Speech and Debate and what it has meant to me over these past 6 years. I’ve come to a richer realization that the real value of Speech and Debate is what happens outside this journey, not what happens in it (for those of you taking notes, this is my thesis). I believe that Speech and Debate is one of many things in life we won’t fully appreciate until later.
Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate Speech and Debate a lot. But I think I will appreciate it even MORE when we use the skills we have gained in the “real world.” For example, the forensic clap. I was recently at another event, and a lady was announcing the results, with long applause for each team. I was thinking “What an inefficient use of time” and desperately wanted to instruct them in the way of the forensic clap. That’s definitely a skill we should transfer.
I still remember my first debate round. I was a cocky novice with too much confidence for my own good. My family had already been in Speech and Debate for a couple of years, I was a master timer, and my partner and I did well in our club’s practice tournament. Then came our first tournament, the very first round we went affirmative against one of the best teams in the league. They argued every single stock issue and several disadvantages; and oh, a counterplan to top if off. It was a good reality check, and one of many failures that taught me more than success ever did. I look back at that tournament fondly because our club had fun “mock” debates in the lounges about installing “Biometric Presidential cake warmers”…..It was hilarious and dumb…. Still with a better rhetoric than some of my speeches.
At another tournament my novice year, we were against a good team with an even better case, and we had no good arguments. I always ran a DA, but since we didn’t have any good ones, I became desperate and said that their plan is a: “violation of federal law”. With the resolution of “reforming federal election law”, that’s exactly what the affirmative team should be doing. I felt ridiculously silly, and the ballot reflected that.
Needless to say, I did not live up to my self-projected image as a novice. Yet failures like these are exactly what makes the Speech and Debate experience NOT a failure, but a success. If we truly believed the real value of Speech and Debate consists only in what happens inside of Speech and Debate, then any mistake could be grounds for despair because it’s all a waste of time. But as a senior who’s now looking forward, I’ve realized the real value of Speech and Debate lies in what happens next, after we graduate, when we put these skills and character development into use.
Last summer, I was in Amman, Jordan on a study-abroad program. And it was a wonderful experience. It was fun to play soccer with Muhammad, a neighborhood boy, in the middle of the street, defying angry taxi drivers. It was fun to visit Petra and Wadi Rum and the Dead Sea. It was fun to roam the streets of Amman and eat Kanafeh, a sweet, syrupy, cheesy dessert, from angels disguised as street vendors. Truly a taste of heaven.
But the experience was also…..interesting, for lack of a better word, not only because it was a completely new country and culture, but also because it was the first time I spent such a long period of time away from home surrounded by people who are not Christians. And I’m not just referring to the people of Amman, but also the American students who I spent most of the day with. Being surrounded by people who didn’t share my values as a Christian was sometimes very depressing and isolating.
For example, one day, when we were all on the bus, one American student was talking about how he competed in public school debate, and was openly bragging about how he fabricated evidence. The fact that a public school debater fabricates evidence wasn’t surprising, the fact that he openly bragged about it surprised me – so I asked him “isn’t that unethical?” He looked at me with spite, and responded, “Haven’t you read Friedrich Nietzsche? God doesn’t exist.” The way he said was matter-of-factly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, was so infuriating. I happened to study Nietzsche the past school year, and believe me, I very much wanted to give him a piece of my mind on why Nietzsche is one of the crappiest philosophers ever. But alas, he wasn’t open to discussion. This was a good wakeup call to what life is like outside the Speech and Debate and homeschool world.
I mean, Speech and Debate truly is unique. A few years ago, I was at a tournament, when the unthinkable happened, a tragedy to make Shakespeare jealous: I lost my tie clip. As a joke, I replaced it with a clothespin. I wore it in an impromptu speech. Some of my friends that it was bold and edgy, and I felt like a bad boy. You know you’re a debater when you think that wearing a clothespin instead of a tie clip counts as edgy.
There’s a Japanese word called Mono No Aware. Mono No Aware — forgive my less-than-sublime pronunciation — refers to a bittersweet sadness that comes from sensitivity to transience, an awareness of the fleeting nature of things… such as certain experiences like tournaments, periods of life like growing up or parenting, the taste of delicious food like chicken tikka. To quote one Speech and Debate alum, now a successful entrepreneur, reminiscing about his homeschooling journey: “The freedom to design my own schedule was priceless. The freedom to do homework in my pajamas was, as I quickly found out, overrated.” Savor your Speech and Debate journey, whether this year is your first, last, or both, and savor your years of homeschooling, with the confidence that God is working in you to work for His glory.
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