It has been a long journey to get to the quarter finals for the Carmel 2 Junior Open Debating team. Carmel 2 team (Maya Williams, Sadie Walsh, Natalia Gonzales and Hayley Wong), over the course of many weeks, won four of their five preliminary rounds which took place at Rangitoto College. For three people in our team, this was their first time debating in the preliminary Junior Open rounds, which already makes winning four of them an extraordinary achievement. “Although this was my first experience debating, I thoroughly enjoyed it,” says Sadie Walsh, a first-time debater. Furthermore, Natalia Gonzales quotes, “I really enjoyed debating this year, being able to strengthen my skills of arguing points effectively. The coaches (Kriya and Kirsten) helped us and were awesome all the way. I loved debating this year!”
When we found out we had made it to the octofinals of the Junior Open, we were astonished and ecstatic. This was a colossal achievement for Carmel and our team. We went to Epsom Girls Grammar and versed Mission Heights 1, which was a success. As the negating side, we beat the opposing team and made it to the quarter finals. Though we lost the quarter final debate against St. Kents, we were so grateful to get to this point. Even though we reached the end of our debating journey this year, we are exceptionally proud of how far we have come.
Debating this year has been an experience that neither I nor my team will forget. We have grown so much in our skills since the beginning of this year, and thanks to our perseverance and passion, we made it to heights we originally didn’t think we could reach. However, being in the top 8 teams out of 120 in Auckland isn’t an achievement we could’ve accomplished without some very important people in our debating story. We couldn’t have done this without the guidance from our coaches, Kriya D’Sa and Kirsten Barberini, or the support of Mrs Allan, who supervised as well as our amazing organiser, Mrs Sahinkaya. Because of these people, we were able to be showered with immense support, which pushed us to be the best we could be.
Maya Williams, Year 10
