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Recently, many clubs and activities have been going on exciting trips, competing and performing at high levels. It’s important that we celebrate the achievements of the students going on these trips, and Speech & Debates’s recent tournament at UC Berkeley is no exception.
The story starts last December, when six boys and six girls were invited to travel to Berkeley to compete over mid-winter break. There was anticipation in the club as the club advisor, Amy McCormick, announced the chosen students. Those who were chosen gladly claimed their “golden ticket” from McCormick, entitling them to one Berkeley trip, including a four-night hotel stay and many unforgettable memories.
The invited students were sophomores Zia Shaikh, Carolyn Hughes, Nate Chiang-Lin, Grace Lang, juniors Jiadong Gu, Aarush Vegulla, Jacqueline Hsiao, Elliana Nan, Madelyne Masters, seniors Sara Ikeda and Luis De Torres Gonzalez. I was also lucky enough to be part of this incredible group.
On the morning of Friday, Feb. 14th, the 12 participants, McCormick, assistant coach Mike Liu, McCormick’s brother, Eric McCormick and parent chaperone Xiaohui Gu flew into San Jose airport to attend one of the largest and most prestigious speech and debate tournaments. The UC Berkeley tournament includes hundreds of schools and thousands of students all over western United States.
Day one was a travel day. After heading to In-N-Out for a delicious meal, we stopped at a boba place and a couple of stores to pick up some essentials. Later that night, while at an Indian restaurant, we were joined by Coach Prabhat Aluri, a longtime member and icon within the speech and debate community.
Days two, three and four were tournament days that brought exciting victories. The entire group put in a lot of hard work, having to run around the large UC Berkeley campus to our preliminary rounds. Out of the 12 students who competed, six students (Hughes, Shaikh, Chiang-Lin, Vegulla, Gu, Masters) made it out of the preliminary rounds and became contenders to advance to finals, something only a small fraction of participants achieve. Out of those, three students (Vegulla, Gu, Masters) made it to semi-finals, an impressive and noteworthy accomplishment.
Although the tournament kept us always busy, that did not stop us from immersing themselves within the Berkeley lifestyle. With the time in between debate rounds, we set off on foot on the busy streets surrounding the campus finding restaurants and hole-in-the-wall spots to dine in.
After an exhilarating yet tiresome tournament, the group came come back to Seattle on Tuesday, Feb. 18th. Although exhausted and sleepy, they were nevertheless proud of what they had accomplished.
