Four tournaments into the debate season, senior debate captain David Schumacher prepares for his last year on the debate team.
The topic the team is debating is whether the U.S. government should increase border surveillance on the southern border. All students participating in a debate class this fall semester are required to attend at least two tournaments.
Schumacher has been on the debate team for four years. He enjoys debate for multiple reasons.
“It’s really interesting to be given a topic that isn’t something I would usually think very hard about, and then have an incentive to really dig deep and form a nuanced opinion on something,” Schumacher said. “I [also] like that it gives me the chance to meet people throughout Minnesota and especially people from other states, in an academic context.”

Preparing for debate tournaments, Schumacher does most of his research online, looking through notable sources like the Washington Post and the New York Times. “I like to see what types of arguments we’re doing while at tournaments that have already happened to see which arguments are connecting the most with judges,” Schumacher said.
Sophomore Isaak Senaratna is in his second year of debate. He finds the class a way of learning more about current issues in the world.

For performing under pressure during tournaments, some of the key things are to “truly understand your arguments; don’t just have them down on the paper … It’s really important to understand your case in-depth, so you can answer any questions confidently and assertively,” Senaratna said.
Ninth-grade debater Sophie Karmaliani is in her first semester of debate. Her favorite aspect of debate so far is the class atmosphere. “I have a lot of friends in my class, so the environment is really good,” Karmaliani said.
For Karmaliani, preparing for tournaments is doing the load of the work in class. “Doing really thorough research, and working with your in-class partner, it helps a lot. Going back and forth, with your speeches and practice questions in class really prepares you,” Karmaliani said.
For the rest of the year, the debate team has a lot of future tournaments, with some notable ones including national circuit tournaments on Nov. 8-10, and the state tournament.