Home court "advantage"?

At the Nanuet Debate First Round, my team went 3/4 and was in a great position to make it to the final round. To make the finals, we only had to go 2/4 in the next 4 rounds. However, the next four rounds were to be held at RCDS. This was a huge disappointment to be and at the same time very exciting. On the one hand, if I made a mistake, the school would be watching, but on the other side if I succeeded epically, I would be seen by everyone. The school cancelled all classes, meaning almost everyone in the high school would be watching my team's debate. I stayed up late preparing so as to succeed in front of everyone and make sure that my partner and I made the finals. I watched a series of political debates on youtube and was surprised on how vague the candidates were when talking about Health Care Reform (the debate topic this year).


I arrived at school and looked over my notes and felt ready to argue. In the first round I was up against two small girls. They were the youngest in the competition, but also two of the strongest. My partner proposed our problems with todays system and did a great job in her section of the debate. My debate was very different. I was worried about looking too aggressive and mean as the big bully yelling at the little girl, so I tried to be as polite as possible. I gave my speech and I was surprised at how nervous I was being in front of the school. It managed to go well enough and my nerves did not affect me in too noticable a way. When I was cross-examined, I struggled, but managed to not be too agressive. My team won and were able to get a spot in the finals.

By the next round, I completely overcame my nerves of speaking in front of the school. I spoke without fear and was able to be agressive. Throughout the day I came to love being around my schoolmates when debating because I felt that I was suported and motivated to succeed, rather than nervous and fearing a mistake.