Novices Need Friends, Too

I’m sure we all remember our first tournament. The virtually universal story is that everyone was so much taller, the judges were seemingly fuming, and you were a millimeter away from a panic attack. But while novice year stays scary for just a short year and then simply becomes history afterward, the problem lies when many of the people who feel terrified at their first tournament end up having it be their last. 

I wholeheartedly understand this struggle, one that may never go away, having been a novice only 5 months ago. Even as a second-year debater I still find that the even bigger circuits (state and national) yield the same terror that I felt as a novice on the local circuit. So how do we deal with the overwhelming terror without quitting or feeling discouraged? We as debaters need someone to show us the ropes, and no one can do that better than active members of local circuits where we see aforementioned terrified novices. 

For a bit of background regarding my mentors, I got very lucky with those who volunteered to help me. Members of my team stepped up and made me feel incredibly welcome if not a little bit pressured to join debate from my extemp career. And it’s these people who inspired me to continue on after winning my first novice extemp tournament, and eventually, it was these people who became my peers that cheered for me when it was my first time making a final round. 

But without any of the support I had, I would have been stuck where I was at the beginning, panicking over a novice-level extemp scrimmage (very much like the EIF ones), asking questions like “what should I expect, and why is extemp so scary?”

After joining my peers and growing skilled enough that their judgment became stale, I was still left with the problem of terror regarding an extracurricular that seemed so much bigger than me, and with speakers who seemed infinitely smarter or more capable than I’d ever be. I needed more support. So during the summer following my novice year, I looked for support regarding my growing Speech and Debate career. In all honesty, the University of Houston Speech and Debate Camp was very likely the biggest growth spike I will have in my entire speech and debate career, seeing as the teachers were so well-versed in everything I was good at, but didn’t understand how to improve in, so I was able to improve at a much higher rate than I was previously 

The University of Houston Congressional Debate chapter was run by Victoria Beard (Spring Woods HS), Ryan Nassif (Clear Lake HS), Jesus Silva (Spring Woods HS ‘23), and Cristopher Melendez (Spring Woods HS ‘24). In fairness to everyone who needs a mentor, paying large amounts of money for in-person access to nationally ranked debaters may not be very accessible. But one needn’t pay when people like Jesus offer help freely to other members of the circuit when still competitors. People like Jesus and Cris offered help and advice freely when asked by those who struggled to find their niche or what worked for them. Jesus even described a teammate as “the next big thing” to his coach. 

I believe it behooves all members of the NSDA (or any other major circuit) to step in and offer what help they can provide to newer members, whether on their team or another team, just as Cris and Jesus did when they competed. Seeing as the reason our extracurricular retains fewer and fewer members each year is due to the accelerating conditions of competition, as well as the preferable alternatives for graduation plans and GPA growth. The solution to the problem is connection on behalf of the experienced members, especially when newer or less skilled members of your team require aid to improve.

Start looking for people who need help, start asking competitors if they think you can improve on anything, and especially start asking for contact with other members of your circuit (Discord, Instagram, Text, WhatsApp, etc.) 

One effective solution I already see regarding the growing issue of disconnection between newer and older members is Equality in Forensics specifically. The more members we see join, the more the community becomes cyclic in the help that bounces around between events and people in the same event. Other effective solutions would be group chats, messaging Instagram accounts that represent Speech and Debate organizations, or even watching NSDA National Finals round archives and pretending like the competition is going against you (lonely as it may be, whatever works is an option). Overall, the solutions do exist, but I call upon all active competitors to be the change we so badly wanted when we first started, and create the competition that will eventually take your place when you graduate. 

Another member of my team, Alex Gao, who joined the year before I did is a good example of someone who was riddled with fear when he first joined. He said to me, “The first time I could ever feel sweat building up on my head was before giving my first extemp speech.”

 Even though he was nervous, he had to teach himself everything he knew until our Congress team leader stepped in and mentored him. The very same person who felt so nervous was the same person who consoled me when my first Congress round came up, and my first judge scared me. The cycle that Alex created by being so helpful directly prevented me from having to teach myself everything I know.

The overall impact that mentorship bears on newer members of the amazing Speech and Debate community is the sole reason we grow the way we do. The accumulated knowledge and cycle of friendship lead big-name debaters to teach each other, who in turn teach me, and then I teach my team, and the cycle continues. The terror begins to alleviate itself from competitors who would otherwise quit. 

When we all do our part, we help the people who don’t know who to ask for help, or even how to ask for it in the first place. Be the change you wanted when you were new, and be the reason we see growth on the circuit.