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"Who is the judge?" - "The judge isGod.""Why is he God?" - "Because hedecides who wins or loses. Not myopponent."

"Who is your opponent?" - "He doesnot exist.""Why does he not exist?" - "Becausehe is a mere dissenting oice o! thetruth spea#$"n the moie The Great %e&aters' thecharismatic (elin B. Tolson' played&y %en)el Washington' !orces hisde&aters to recite this memora&lecatechism. This *uote is inspirationalto me &ecause it em&odies the mostimportant aspect o! de&ate. There isno right or wrong - the judge isimpartial' a higher power. controlmy own destiny+ there!ore i! argueper!ectly' can neer lose.,nderstanding this has empoweredme to &eliee in mysel! and toappreciate the intellectual structureo! de&ate. n incoln-%ouglas de&ate'resolutions are real-world issues

centered upon importantphilosophical *uestions and conicts./ne must argue &oth sides o! aresolution' regardless o! one0s ownopinions on the matter. This has!orced me to &ecome adept atloo#ing at issues !rom all angles.%e&ate has changed how see theworld. t has taught me that the justi1cation o! law and policy alwayslies at the intersection o! moral

principles and pragmaticconsiderations. 2or example' aresolution a&out mandatoryaccinations comes to mind.deologically' it was a conict&etween indiidual rights and pu&licwel!are. n a democracy' whichshould &e gien priority? 3ractically'it was a de&ate a&out the science o! eradicating diseases' the logistics o! 

accinating eeryone' and thenum&er o! people who would receie

accinations een i! they weren0tmandatory. 4 winning argument hadto &oth address the scienti1c aspectso! accination policy and ma#e acompelling case !or how we should

interpret !undamental 4mericanalues.Well-prepared de&aters are !amiliarwith all the major arguments andeidence at hand. There!ore'#nowledge and intelligence are notalways enough to win. Greatde&aters win &y catching theiropponents o5-guard. uster myopponents &y going out o! my way toinclude less well-#nown examples o! history' which are harder to re!ute. nmy re&uttals' surprise mycompetition with &oldcounterarguments they are notprepared to hear. %e&ate has pushedme to thin# outside o! the &ox. t hasalso !orced me to &e a much moreattentie listener.(ost o! the opponents we !ace&ene1t !rom haing de&ate as an

o6cial course. /ur program' on theother hand' is run &y a !ew Harardstudents on a olunteer &asis.4lthough ery #nowledgea&le andresource!ul' they only hae time tomeet once a wee#. To #eep up withthe competition' spend many hoursresearching eidence andconstructing my argumentsindependently. always see# adiceand ideas !rom whomeer can. 0e

earned my success through sel!-motiation and &y ta#ing initiatie.2our years ago' was the only!reshman on a team o! seen. Hardlyanyone outside o! the de&ate teameen #new it existed. 7tartingsophomore year' made sure -through word o! mouth - thateeryone #new was aware o! theteam. Now' de&ate has &ecome one

o! the most popular extracurricular inour school. am co-captain o! a

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twenty-1e mem&er team' andmentoring new de&aters is anactiity truly enjoy. While myteammates and coaches alsodesere credit !or our progress' 0e

assumed a leadership role throughthe inuence and responsi&ility 0eexerted. am a !airly good de&ater' &ut 0mnot a champion. 0e gone 8-9 attournaments' &ut 0e also lost !airly

&adly on other occasions. 0d &edishonest i! told you winningdoesn0t matter' yet i! wrote onlya&out my success' wouldn0t &etelling you what is most interesting

a&out mysel!. The s#ills and wisdom0e gained through de&ate areimportant parts o! what de1nes me. hae learned how to lead' how tocompete' and most importantly' howto thin# sharply.