Good Prep=Good Results

It's always nice to see that hard work pays off, particularly when you see your child slaving over school work or debate prep. Happy to report great results from this past weekend's Big Bronx Tournament. The girls made it to the doubles round and ended up as the 12th seed in the Tournament, and one took 5th Speaker award! But it didn't come easily - lots of prep, practice and strategy in advance of the event - not to mention the on-the-fly adjustments to arguments and intrigue once into the competition. Just as with sports, it's good to see kids respect a worthy opponent. They know a great team when they hear them, and the girls were admiring a number of their debate compatriots when it was all over. Exhausted? You betcha. But how gratifying.

Oh Noez! Da Big Bronx.....

Maybe it's because we sometimes lapse into the "Can have cheeseburgerz" LOLcat language around here, but I seem to think of The Big Bronx Tournament this weekend in LOL phrases. My "team" - daughter and partner - are 2-1 as of this writing. Much prep and back and forth before the event; 2 nights of endless printing of blocks and evidence, cups of coffee, theorizing about how to beat this team or that one. You can cut the tension with a machete here before a tournament, between the actual anticipation and preparation, and the mad rush to jam all the school work before and after. When we picked up last night, adding a third friend and schoolmate to the mix, we wondered how they still had the energy and passion to get into the gory details of each round after a full school day and 2 rounds. They were gone this morning by the crack of dawn, and we received the update just an hour ago.

When you stick debaters in the back seat of your car, you never know what will happen. There was brain storming on strategy, your requisite cattiness about this one or that one, anticipation of what today's rounds would bring - and a real, tangible reminder that when you challenge high school kids to rise to the top, they'll take their best shot. Of course, a lot of the talk went on at a speed and a sound level I really couldn't consistently follow. Nonetheless, it was inspiring. Can't wait to hear today's results!