the glenbrooks

This weekend I attended the Glenbrooks national circuit speech and debate tournament. Upon my arrival I was absolutely terrified, I was staying with people I had never met before, meeting my pen-pal coach in person, and debating some of the best debaters in the country. I had over 150 varsity LD competitors, debated 7 times and had a lot of fun. 

All in all it was a wonderful trip, I made new friends, I died laughing with my coach, and I was honorably destroyed by top 20 debaters. I won my first theory debate, and managed to hold my own against those who speak upwards of 300 words per minute (on average we speak around 175 words per minute). I lost a lot, but most importantly, I gained experience. 

I owe my entire adventure to Access Debate. Access Debate is a non profit organization that helps debaters get to tournaments who can't afford it. They provide debaters with opportunities that they would never have had otherwise. Without them, I would never have been able to attend this tournament. National circuit tournaments are pricy, with travel costs, hotel rooms, and tournament fees they cost hundreds of dollars, sometimes more depending on food, taxis to and fro tournament site an hotels and all the little costs in between. I'm not one for advertising, but check out their page here, they have some amazing stories and they could really use you're help.