<p>Alright, so I have a couple questions concerning Debate.</p>
<p>Firstly, in 10th grade and 11th grade I "participated" in Debate, but I could never find an event that I really "clicked with." I went to meetings occasionally and did work and a few tournaments, but my level of dedication was subpar, for sure. I don't know if I should even mention Debate as an EC for those two grades, I probably did about 2-3 hours a week but I don't know if it's worth including.</p>
<p>However...this year I finally "found my niche" (and by the way I feel SO corny and cliche writing this, sorry for that). I participated in Domestic Extemp yesterday and I advanced through three rounds and placed 5th out of more than 50 people! I have been working about 6 hours a week for Debate so far this year, not including the 12 long hours spent at the tournament.</p>
<p>My questions are as follows:
Firstly- how do I express how I placed in the tournament? Placing that high was a huge shock to me, and I feel like it's an accomplishment; there were a lot of kids at this tournament and I did pretty well. But what do I put, just..."5th place TFA Regional Tournament" or something?? Or should I put it at all? I'm not state or nationally ranked like a lot of you CCers, but I was still kinda proud of myself for doing that well my first time. </p>
<p>Secondly- is it going to look bad to colleges that I am all of a sudden throwing myself into this activity my senior year? My schedule is pretty hectic and things just sort of fell into place with Debate this year, I'm not doing a club that I did last year that took up 10 hours a week (you're only eligible for this group while you're a junior). Anyway, how will this look? I don't want it to look like "resume padding."</p>
<p>Thirdly- for my essay on my most meaningful EC, I think I might have finally found something that I am truly passionate about. I am a varsity swimmer and obviously passionate about that, but the sports essays are a little overdone, in my opinion. I'm in a lot of other clubs and organizations and active in them, but I have never found that thing that gets my brain going and my heart racing and that I am genuinely excited about and proud of my accomplishments in until this weekend. Will it be weird to write my essay about Debate since I haven't been doing it for long? </p>
<p>Thanks for the help.</p>