“Success is not final, failure is not fatal, it is the courage to continue that counts”
– Winston Churchill
Debate and public speaking are one of my greatest passions, they give me a voice, make me feel heard and help me change the world for the better. Under my teachers’ guidance, I have flourished as a debater, critical thinker and empathizer. With the support of my teachers and peers I managed to win The Poelmics Debates 2022, held in Manipal University of Higher Education.
When Vedanth Aggarwal and I were chosen to represent our school, we were enthralled. The category included students up till 12th grade, the format was unfamiliar (the debates being individual) and the motions had to be well researched, making the competition much harder for us. However, we spoke our best, memorized our speeches well and deconstructed the motion as well as we could.
After a tough preliminary round, many amazing speeches and an intense competition, I progressed to the finals. Although, Vedanth didn’t qualify, he did extremely well and was applauded by all.
We had an hour to prepare for the finals, which included a speech and rebuttal round. The speakers present were well trained, experienced and very motivated. I did my best, and was satisfied with my performance. Like everyone else, I was anxious for the results and wanted to win, you can only imagine my happiness when I was declared the winner of the Against category, receiving a certificate and a AED 1500 cheque.
I am very grateful to my teachers and school for giving me such wonderful opportunities, and always supporting and promoting my passion. I was delighted to have won, but I was even more overjoyed to have learnt so much through the feedback of the adjudicators and my opponents.
– Spriha Pandey (9F)
