Upholding Commitments by Addressing Problems by Kelsey

Upholding Commitments by Addressing Problems by Kelsey - August 2026 Scholarship Essay

Ever since I was 13 years old, I have participated in competitive debate. Each time my partner and I would exit a debate round, we would prepare to receive what can only be described as a barrage of feedback from whichever of our coaches was watching that round. It was helpful, of course, but especially in my first year as a novice, it was sometimes a lot to handle. Then, at the end of each tournament, we would receive written feedback on each of our rounds from the parent volunteer who had been the actual judge of the round, and who decided which team came out on top. Now that I am entering my 5th year of debate, I can think of feedback from specific rounds I have debated in that were especially helpful in shaping my approach to learning and growth.
Throughout my first two years of debate, my most consistent problem was the speed at which I spoke. No matter how good (or bad) my arguments were, I would often simply speak too quickly for the judge to comprehend and process what I was saying, and this tendency certainly cost me some debate rounds. For a long time, I put only half-hearted effort into fixing this issue, because I believed that it would be better for me to focus on making sure that the content of my arguments was solid. I completely ignored the presentation and rhetoric side of debate as a sport, until it led to my downfall one too many times.
Eventually, one of my coaches had to pull me aside and have a serious talk with me. He told me that I needed to put time and effort into fixing my pace of speaking, no matter how hard it was. He told me that I had a duty to my partner and to our debate club as a whole to put my best effort into fixing this issue, and that he would help me fix it but I needed to be giving it my all. This was a real wake-up call for me, and I started doing as he said and working to improve my speaking. It was not easy, and it took me hours and hours of painstaking practice, but I finally learned how to properly pace myself while presenting my speech. From that point on, I very rarely, if ever, received judge comments telling me that I spoke too fast, and I no longer felt badly when those comments led to my partner and I losing a round that we otherwise would have won.
There were really two overarching lessons that I took away from this experience. The first is that it is best to address a problem when it first presents itself, rather than when it becomes impossible to overlook anymore. The second is that it is never acceptable to shirk one’s duty to another person for the sake of sheer laziness, and that commitments ought to always be upheld even if one has to work extremely hard to do so. Both of these lessons are ones that I have carried with me ever since this experience, and that I expect to carry with me for the rest of my life.