Despite the COVID-19 pandemic affecting many different aspects of MSMS life, clubs are still attending various competitions and events. The Speech and Debate Club demonstrated this by competing in the annual John C. Stennis Novice Tournament last weekend. 

The tournament allowed many juniors and seniors to have the opportunity to be able to compete with other novices from around Mississippi. Since the tournament is for novices only, none of the competitors had ever competed before. However, they managed to receive several awards for their achievements:

2nd Place in Public Forum: Dalton Rainer and Max Dobbs

3rd Place in Congressional Debate: Kate Hall

4th Place in Dramatic Performance: Elena Eaton

8th Place in Congressional Debate: Avery Short

Debate School of Excellence: MSMS

Dalton Rainer, a public forum competitor, knew that even though public forum is known for its tough competitors, he was well prepared for the tournament. 

“It actually went better than expected,” Rainer said. “However, it was very difficult to try and challenge my own preconceived, biased opinion on the subject itself. I think that is what makes public forum such a hard competition.”

Kate Hall, a congressional debate competitor, thought that her competition was a great learning experience.

“After this, I do plan on participating in future tournaments,” Hall said. “I am just so glad that I was able to compete. It was my first tournament, and I really enjoyed it. It really showed me that I should work on things for later tournaments.”

Speech and Debate Club president Aaron Wan thought the team members did well for their first time competing in a speech and debate tournament.

“It is always super difficult as a novice going into your first tournament,” Wan said. “To get adjusted to the whole situation is just hard. However, everyone on our team stuck through and gave it their all.”

Vineeth Vanga, a varsity competitor, also thought the novices did well but knew there was more that there is more work to do.

“I feel like the novices now need to begin to feel more comfortable doing these tournaments,” Vanga said. “Doing the events is the first part, but experience comes over time. Experience is what makes a good [speech and] debate competitor.”

Overall, the tournament was a success. According to Wan, this is just the beginning of the debate club.

“I think the future of our team is very bright,” Wan said. “We have lots of talented members joining us this year, and they all have done an amazing job. I am so excited about the future of our team.”