Debate club is not cool. Ok, that’s a bit harsh, but come on, debate club is the most cliche nerd activity you could do. However, that being said, debating itself has always been a passion of mine, and it is an aspect of my personality that anyone can immediately see. Through the debate club, I am able to integrate this passion into the activities I do at school, so much so that I am now the leader of the club. Our ASA supervisor, Mr Luvinzu, approached me at the end of last year and offered me the role of leader of the Debate club since he had gotten to know me and felt that I could be a good example and mentor for the students joining the club. Now, another thing to note about my personality is that whenever approached with an opportunity to freely boss people around while being rewarded for it by my teachers, I cannot refuse. That’s a joke; I’m obviously kidding! 😶

I took the role because I remember how long it took me to step out of my shell and express all the opinions I had but never knew how to vocalise. I went from being extremely introverted to being known for my public speaking skills, all because of my exposure to debating and the discussions I engaged in. I wanted to be able to return this favour to the other students who are all in the same position I was in a couple of years ago: timid, shy, and scared to speak up. From what I can see, all the students in the ASA are trying to improve their confidence in public speaking, refine their skills of researching, or just familiarise themselves with how to formulate arguments cohesively.

At our sessions in debate club, we typically start off by having informal discussions about matters or big ideas we are interested in. Whether it be general, philosophical, political, or related to global affairs, we have a short brainstorming session to try and develop a debate motion. We have discussed matters ranging from self-image to the idea of evolving masculinity to abortion laws. This is a great activity because it encourages all the participants to dig deep and find matters they are passionate about and pay attention to their surroundings for inspiration when it comes to finding a topic. After this step, we move on to researching. This year, we have spent a great deal of time breaking down a variety of tools for researching and going over how to conduct good, conclusive research. When it comes to debate, the way research is conducted vastly differs from that of research for their usual day-to-day subjects, which gives the students an opportunity to explore methods of working beyond just what they are assessed for. After we feel confident enough in the subject matter of the debate, we move to the actual debates, which are conducted in a 3 v 3 format for which, as leader, I typically am the moderator.

Overall, leading this club and seeing the students push themselves out of their comfort zones has been a greatly rewarding experience. A lot of them have told me about how they feel like these Tuesday sessions have been great for their fluency in argument and feeling confident in the way they communicate their thoughts. Seeing the change in them has definitely been my main motivator and I am eager to see how much further they can all grow together.

Up next for the debate club is big ambitions of taking part in or organising an inter-school debate tournament. Once our OSC debate team is confident, as the heads of the club we are working hard to explore the idea of inter school competitions to push us even further out of our comfort zones while engaging with other schools and expanding our horizons.