<p>I'm a sophomore, and I've been doing debate for only one year, and am kind of trapped in it for all of this year. I didn't like it that much last year, but I forced myself to do it this year. I really regret doing that. I hate it. I hate politics. I hate writing speeches about politics. I fall asleep at the tournaments. I can't deal with this stress. I forced myself to sign up this year because it looks good on college apps, but I really just don't like it at all.</p>
<p>I love being part of the debate team. It makes me feel like I belong somewhere. On the other hand, it's so time consuming, and when I put it all together, I feel like giving up that feeling of belonging is worth not having this stress anymore.</p>
<p>I really don't know what to do. I don't know if I'm trapped in it for the whole year, but I'm going to a national tournament next weekend, and a local tournament the weekend after which I already paid for. After that tournament, I'm thinking about just quitting.</p>
<p>What should I do?</p>
<p>Oh I was going to say about the tournaments being fun… You can’t force yourself to do something if you have a hate passion. For me, I can’t wait to go to debate tournaments into whatever categories; my hope is to be in regionals and maybe state tournaments for my resume on college.</p>
<p>Hm, well I’m not a fan of speaking about politics either, but I just love debating in general.</p>
<p>My adviser says that if debate starts to become a chore and you don’t look forward to it anymore, don’t do it anymore because you’re basically forcing yourself to do something you don’t like.</p>
<p>Yeah, I would agree with what debategeek said. Don’t do it if you don’t like it. You could be spending that time doing something that you actually like. Get an internship or a job or join a club that you are actually passionate about.</p>
<p>Actually, first read How to be a High School Superstar by Cal Newport.</p>
<p>Guys. Nevermind. I lied, the tournament was today, and I just said all that because I was frustrated and tired. It’s all good now. Lol.</p>
<p>I have a completely different situation.</p>
<p>I LOVE politics and I’m doing policy debate.</p>
<p>But my parents are forcing me to do EVIL cross country.</p>
<p>And yes, you can force yourself to do something you despise. Just make sure you do something you like.</p>
<p>And debate season will end.</p>
<p>For us, debate is really easy, just 1 meeting a week.</p>
<p>Cross country is horrible, daily practices, long meets, torture.</p>
<p>Debate’s not as bad as I was imagining it last night. I do a few things that I like, so it’s alright.</p>
<p>Stick with it! It’s going to increase the breadth and depth of what you know. For me, debate wasn’t time-consuming at all (maybe that’s because my partner and I never reached nationals) but we switched to pofo since our junior year schedules were too busy. See if you can switch to pofo. You’ll be killer at it if you have decent policy background and experience.</p>