Cardiff Sixth Form Debating teams were fortunate to be allocated five team slots for this prestigious debating competition which took place on- line on Saturday 2 October. With 54 teams competing from across the UK and abroad, it is certainly not a debate for the faint-heated! Our students rose to the occasion as ever debating on such challenging topics as: “This House Would Hand Over Control of Public Health Policies to an Independent Panel of Judges”; and “This House Would Prefer a World Without Extreme Emotions”.
This is an event which very few novice debaters enter. Therefore, particular congratulations should be given to Xuanru, Morgan, Griff and Lili who took part in this event with only four weeks of debating training – and they came out in front of many more experienced debaters!
Said Morgan: “For me Imperial was an eye-opening experience that was both nerve-wrecking and exciting at the same time. The motions cover a wide range of topics that are closely related to what is happening around the world, and for the four motions, in at least three of them I got to defend an idea or policy that is normally against my personal idea or make me feel counter-intuitive! I have to challenge how I usually think and the best thing about that is you will always find out everything under the status quo seems contestable, a different, marginalised voice exists for a different reason. When challenging myself, the best thing is trying to think about and represent the struggles and disadvantages of people or groups that normally don’t come up in my mind, and brought them up to debate against some of the best debating schools in the country, which makes Imperial such a special experience for me.
We met some tough and amazing opponents such as Eton boys and Saint Paul’s girls. However, I was also blessed to have an extraordinary and super encouraging partner Ellie! It was a great day together and I learnt so much from her
Lili added: “The Imperial Schools debate competition was possibly one of the most eye-opening experiences in my time in high school. Going against some of the toughest competitors like Eton who are known for their debating skills not only improved my skills, but it also provided an insight to the standard of the top students in the country. The day was stressful and tiring, but the benefits and experiences made it extremely worthwhile and genuinely fun.”
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