The Journey of Debating 辩论之旅 -Xingy Huang

This article was written by 3H’s Co-Founder and President Xingy Huang and is currently available in English and Chinese. It was originally posted on the 27th of May 2021 through Frank Huang’s Official WeChat Account.

They say that the memories you keep from school are not the nights you stay up late cramming for that assessment you have the next morning, the times you receive an unsatisfactory grade, the stress you feel pilling on top of you like the mountain of assignments and tasks that your teachers have requested for. Instead, they say the memories and lessons you keep are the ones made from joining extra-curricular activities in school.

有人说，学校留给你的记忆不是那个你临时抱佛脚为第二天早上的评估测试而熬的夜；也不是当你拿到不尽人意的成绩的时刻；更不是当你身陷在老师布置的文山题海中，感到好似被剥了几层皮般的压力。而是你从参加学校的课外活动中留下的点点滴滴。

I am sure you have heard this piece of advice so many times you could finish the sentence for them. I too, once believed this was just a cliché spread by students older than me, however, having graduated and completed VCE in 2020, what these older students once told me truly did ring true.

我相信你们已经对这说辞耳熟能详。我也曾认为这只是学长们随口说的陈词滥调。然而，当我在2020年中学毕业并完成VCE之后，我才体会到这些学长曾经告诉我的话实属肺腑之言。

In high school, I was that student who tried their hand at everything, whether it was sports, art, musicals, dance, leadership roles, community service, public speaking, just to name a few. However, the one activity that remains at the forefront of some of my fondest high school memories is debating.

在中学时，我就是那个愿意尝试一切的学生，无论是体育、艺术、音乐剧、舞蹈、领导角色、社区服务、公开演讲等等。然而，占据我最美好的中学记忆前沿的活动是辩论。

I was first exposed to debating at a primary school public speaking night and formally began my debating journey through the Debaters Association of Victoria's (DAV) Junior Secondary Program (JSP) for debating in Year 7. Needless to say, my three weeks in JSP were rather interesting in that my team lost every single debate. Despite being gut-wrenchingly heartbroken initially as young students who were frankly quite naïve in thinking a 4-point loss was a very close debate (a 4 point loss is in fact a considerable loss…), we were given an immense amount of encouragement from the adjudicators despite our shortcomings and for my team, this resonated deeply within us. We were determined to come back next year and improve on the areas we lacked in.

我第一次接触辩论是在小学的公开演讲之夜，而后通过参与维多利亚州辩论者协会(DAV)初中项目(JSP)中的7年级辩论赛，正式开始我的辩论之旅。可想而知， JSP的那三周活动对我而言是值得关注的，我的团队输掉了每一场辩论赛。尽管作为新手当初感受到那种撕心裂肺的沮丧，但坦率地说，我们仍非常天真地认为4分的失利是一场比分很接近的比赛(实际上4分是一个相当大的差距......）。尽管我们存在缺点，但我们仍得到了裁判的大力鼓励，并在我们队员的内心引起了深深的共鸣。我们决心提高我们的不足之处，来年再见。

Year 8 saw my team enter the main high school debating competition known simply as the DAV Schools Competition. Once again, we lost our first debate, but we still had the same passion and determination to take the feedback given to us and continuously improve. We finally made our breakthrough the following year with our first ever win in the 2nd round that year and even won the next 3 rounds for the year.

八年级时，我的辩论队参加了高中辩论赛，简称为DAV校际比赛。我们再次输掉了第一轮辩论赛，但我们仍然怀着同样的激情和决心，接纳裁判给予我们的反馈并不断改进。终于我们取得了突破，在第二轮中取得了本年度的首场胜利，之后再接再厉拿下三轮比赛。

We returned to the competition once again in Year 9, not with the determination or goal to win every single round, but to make sure we were constantly developing, improving, and solidifying our debating skills. Very quickly, we discovered that it was not the drive to win that brought us results but rather being grateful for the opportunity we were given to be better than we were in the previous round and to not be afraid of making mistakes. The year finished with my team placing 2nd overall in the region, narrowly missing out on a place in the DAV Finals.

九年级，当我们第三次踏入赛季，怀揣着的不是去赢每一轮比赛的决心和目标，而是确保我们能不断发展、提高和巩固我们的辩论技巧。很快，我们发现，不是胜利的动力给我们带来了成果，而是不怕犯错误，抓住每次机会要比上一轮做得更好。当这一年赛季结束时，我的赛队位列地区排名第二，以极微小的比分差距而错失进入决赛的席位。

Everything we had learnt from debating for the three years prior to Year 10 led us to become the overall region winners in 2018 and being the first team from my school in 5 years to do so, a feat none of us would have ever imagined as Year 7's. That year's DAV Finals saw us place in the top 32 of approximately 400 teams across Victoria. Having realised what we were capable of achieving, the next year saw us defend our regional winner’s title and place in the top 16 in Victoria in the 2019 DAV Finals, something that to this day still feels surreal to me. Unfortunately, Year 12 for me saw the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and sadly we were not able to defend our title one last time.

从前三年的辩论中我们所学到的一切，都让我们在2018年成为整个地区的赢家，并且成为我的学校近5年来第一支获得地区第一的辩论队，这个成果是我们在7年级时未曾设想到的。在当年的DAV总决赛中，我们队在维多利亚州大约400支辩论队中名列前32位。意识到我们自己的能力，第二年，我们队不仅捍卫住地区冠军，而且在2019年维多利州DAV总决赛排名中位列前16名，直到今天有时仍然觉得超现实。遗憾的是，踏入12年级却看到COVID-19大流行的开始，更伤心的是，由于疫情赛事取消，我们失去最后一次机会去卫冕地区冠军。

For us, debating was a way to push ourselves and constantly strive for our personal best, whether we were winners or not (however that is not to say that victories were sweet and were always welcomed). Winning was simply a by-product of our hard work and determination, but what we took away the most were the skills we gained while debating, such as basic persuasion skills, communication, the use of body language and our voices to enhance persuasion, but most importantly teamwork. It was our drive to constantly improve that brought my team to where we were, and this is a lesson that I will never forget. As with other things in life, achieving success is always satisfying but ultimately, it is the journey that we take that is what makes our experiences meaningful and memorable. To me, debating was a way for me to build up my public speaking and general communication skills in a competitive yet learning environment, filled with the ambition and purpose to deliver a better debate each and every time, all while learning about the mechanics of persuasion and the beauty of words.

对我们来说，辩论是推动自己并不断追求个人最好成绩的一种方式，无论我们是羸是输，(然而这并不是要否定胜利是甜蜜的，它总是让人鼓舞)。胜利只是我们付出努力和决心的附带品，我们从中得到最多的是我们在辩论时获所得的技能，如基本的说服技巧、沟通、肢体语言的使用，和如何使用我们的声音来增强说服力，但最重要的是团队合作。这正是我们的动力去不断改进，使我的团队走到了最终的位置，这是一个我永远不会忘记的经历。与生活中的其他事情一样，成功总是令人满意，但终极却是这旅程使我们的经历更有意义和难以忘怀。对我而言，辩论是我在竞争激烈的学习环境中建立的公开演讲和一般沟通技巧的一种方式，每一次都充满了更好去辩论的雄心壮志和目标，同时学习说服的技巧和语言之美。

Having graduated and almost completed my first semester of university, these experiences and lessons learnt from my 6 years of debating have still stuck with me and as it seems, have even come full circle. As of December 2020, I became accredited as an official adjudicator for the DAV Schools Competition and qualified trainer of primary school debating programs for the DAV. Where I once stood in front of an adjudicator, persuading them into believing that some of my made-up statistics were true or that we as humanity would in fact build a Jurassic Park, I now sit in front of 6 eager high school students just like my former self, adjudicating their debates. Seeing these high school students debate is a meaningful reminder of the nights I stayed up late frantically writing my speech, scouring the internet for every single rebuttal possible and also what it meant to have a growth mindset and always strive for my personal best. These memories are ones I will never forget and are a constant reminder of my crazy, event filled high school days.

如今的我已高中毕业，并即将完成大学的第一学期，这些从过往6年辩论赛中得到的经验和教训仍然紧随着我，让我一次又一次的出发。截至2020年12月，我获得了DAV学校竞赛的官方裁判员和DAV小学辩论项目的合格教练这两项认证。我曾经站在裁判面前，说服他们相信我的一些估算数字是真实的，或者我们作为人类应该要建一个侏罗纪公园。而现在的我坐在6位充满激情的、就像当年的我一样的高中生面前，评判他们的辩论。看着这些高中生的辩论，适时地勾起那些疯狂地写演讲稿的夜晚，和搜索互联网上的每一个反驳的可能，以及带着一种成长的心态意味着什么，并始终为最好而努力。这些记忆我是永远不会忘记的，时时泛起我那疯狂的、充满活力的中学时光。

Xingy (on the left) opening the 2019 TEDxCasey Youth Talks at Bunjil Place

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Whether you are currently in primary school or high school, debating is one of the best extra-curricular activities you can involve yourself in. It is a great opportunity to develop public speaking and teamwork skills which can be translated into other situations you may find yourself in in life.

无论你是小学生还是中学生，辩论都是你可以参与的最好的课外活动之一。这是一个开拓公共演讲和团队合作技能的好机会，并且会潜移默化地影响你的生活。

DAV offers training sessions for students in primary school and all it takes to participate is to let your teacher know you are interested in debating. Hopefully, they can sign your class or year level up to a training session with the DAV. If you are lucky, you may even see me there as the trainer!

DAV为小学生提供培训课程，如果你想参加培训，只需要让老师知道你对辩论感兴趣。老师有可能会到DAV为你报上相应的级别或水平的课程。如果幸运的话，你也许会碰到作为培训员的我。

For those in high school, the JSP Debating for Year 7’s and 8’s or the flagship DAV Schools Competition for those in Year 9 to Year 12 (Year 7’s and 8’s are welcome to debate in this competition too) are the competitions for you. Once again, all it takes is for you to express your interest to your English or extra-curricular teacher if debating is not already offered at your school. Otherwise, if your school already has a pre-existing network set up for students to participate in JSP or DAV, feel free to sign up through your school to get started.

对于高中生，JSP辩论7年级和8年级或者DAV旗舰学校，可参与到9至12年级的比赛中(7年级和8年级也欢迎参加此类辩论赛)。重申一次，如果你的学校还没有为学生提供参与辩论赛的机会，那么你要做的事是向你的英语或课外老师表达你的兴趣。如果你的学校已经建立好了参赛的网络，供学生参加JSP 或 DAV，那么请随时通过你的学校去注册参与。

If you are in Year 12 this year and would be interested in becoming an adjudicator once you graduate high school, information about adjudication training is available here.

如果你今年是12年级的学生，并且在高中毕业后有志成为一名裁判员，请点击这里。

You do not need to have debating experience to become an adjudicator, however, prior experience is always welcome. This job offers many opportunities to expand your skillset and reach into other areas of public speaking.

可得到有关裁判培训的信息。成为裁判员不一定需要有辩论赛的经验，但有经验总是会受到青睐。这份工作提供许多机会让你扩展你的所有技能，并接触到其他领域的公开演讲。

More information about DAV and their competitions and services are available by accessing this link.

欲了解有关DAV 及其竞赛和服务的更多信息，请访问此链接。