The Spirit of Debate

OK, I'm proud as hell of all my past and present debaters, from my 2020 grads to those that were part of my 2000 South Fork debate coaching indoctrination, and everyone in between. And all are unique, in their own way. But I need to talk about the singularly most unique student I've had the honor of coaching: MiaBeth Rose Gorodetzer-Edelman.

MiaBeth came into the program four years ago from a private school with what I will describe as an extreme case of "I'm not a public speaker" syndrome. Carrie McDaniel and Connor Yeackley tag-teamed her at an incoming freshman class showcase, while I discussed debate with her mom, Jo Gorodetzer. By the end of the evening, both were convinced that taking debate would be a good option.

But that's not what makes MiaBeth unique.

MiaBeth came into the program not only with a lack of public speaking skills, but with a religious background that would prevent her from competing on weekends (and tourneys account for 40% of the grade). No matter, we found a way to get her credit, through allowance by our local middle school league to let her compete on Wednesdays after school, volunteering at Wellington Landings Middle School with Christopher K Cartagena, participating in School Duel and Academic Games, and other such ventures. MiaBeth earned A's every semester in debate. And as a bonus, she was able to compete at our Florida Oceanfront National Speech and Debate Association Congressional Debate national qualifiers, because those tournaments took place on Fridays and did not conflict with the Jewish Sabbath.

That's not what makes MiaBeth unique, either.

Today, MiaBeth had the opportunity to compete at the NSDA Senior Open, a pre-nationals tournament set up to allow seniors across the US who did not qualify for nationals to have one last chance for competition, due to the cancellation of numerous tournaments because of the COVID-19 virus. MiaBeth could compete because the interpretation events were recorded in advance, so she was able to do a 10-minute-long Program Oral Interpretation program on war and veterans ... even though the tourney was on a Saturday and she would not be an active participant during the actual competition.

Today I had the chance to finally watch her video performance, which used the poetry The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred Lord Tennyson, Where Broken Soldiers Go by Michael Anderson, and The Last of the Light Brigade by Rudyard Kipling, along with scripts from M*A*S*H, articles from The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans and the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, and music by The Cranberries. Because of distance learning, she essentially put together the program on her own, with minimal assistance from me. And she made it work. She didn't advance to the Sunday showcase, but that's ok. It was her first time competing in an "acting" event, and her first time at a national-level tournament. And it is amazing to me that of all my Class of 2020 students, it would be MiaBeth who would be the last one to compete at a tournament.

MiaBeth was honored at our Virtual DeBanquet this week with the Spirit of Debate Golden Gavel, a singularly unique award I present annually to a student in my program who represents all that is good in debate, who represent the NSDA honor code, who assist me in various capacities (often without being prompted), and of which NSDA points and trophies do not factor into the coach's decision. MiaBeth was a no-brainer for the award. She stayed with debate because she enjoyed the activity; winning at tournaments was never an issue, because she couldn't actually compete on weekends. Trophies were never an issue, for the same reason. MiaBeth participated in the classroom, she researched, she assisted other students with argumentation and outlining, she cross-examined, she craved information about different events, and she exuded confidence and self-representation. And while many other students might have stayed with debate regardless of whether they took home accolades, MiaBeth is the only one who participated knowing this was never really an option.

I constantly tell my program that, while trophies and winning are nice, they're not the most important thing. MiaBeth personified this attitude infinitely.

And that's what makes her unique among the hundreds of students that have been a part of my program the past 18 years.