So I’ve only done debate since last year. I made modest progress, but that was just in the novice level. Well, a few months ago, I tried my shot into the advanced tournaments. It was awful. I was totally unprepared for it and I can honestly say it was one of the worst days in my life.
Things haven’t really gotten better. For the next two tournaments, progress was negligible. The competitors got harder each time. I felt like I was making a fool out of myself. It didn’t help that I had a whole bunch of college apps to worry about, along with my senior year workload. Debate’s making me feel miserable now.
On the one hand, I kind of miss debate. I had a lot of fun doing it, at least with my team and in the novice tournaments. But on the other hand, I don’t ever want to go through that mauling I had last Saturday again. Debate just isn’t fun anymore.
It’s my senior year, and I already got into a school, so it doesn’t really matter for EC anyways. Did anyone else go through this?
Drop out. I have two kids – one completely nailed it when it came to debate…even placing at several national tournaments…the other kid (and she’s the smarter one), she was miserable…it just wasn’t her…she quit, she put her energy into other things that she loved (in her case, school newspaper) and she was much happier.
How much longer does debate season last? Do you have teammates or a partner relying on you? If not, go ahead and drop it. If the team would be disadvantaged or compromised without your participation, then I would try and stick it out.
It is good to learn to speak in front of others…but if you have tried and it is making you miserable to the point you do not want to speak in front of others, then quit. But I agree, if others depend on you then try to stick it out.
Thank you for all these responses. To answer some questions, there is one more debate tournament before the state tournament (which I highly doubt I’ll qualify for). Personally, I don’t have a problem with public speaking per se. It has more to do with the brutal competitiveness in the advanced league, and how taxing it’s become. I think everyone in the team feels sort of tired already, but I think my coach wants us to stay for the last tournament.