CAP Debates

The debates started as an interesting assignment but ended up as a real disappointment.

I cannot think of another assignment in which the work I put in could not in any way reflect my result. I'm not sulking about my grade, which wasn't terrible, but I'm frustrated by what high standards we were held to. We spent 30 minutes in NSL class listening to classical music about a river, and that was all the instruction we got on how to debate. Maybe a few minutes of pointers but we got no real practice.

To describe the effort I put in: I worked each minute we were given in class, including through the breaks, and spent most of my Friday after school preparing for the debate. Then I spent several hours on Sunday practicing speaking. I felt there was little more I could do. I clearly do not have a knack for debates, but got little help in school. Now my grade in each CAP class is taking a hit. I find that quite unfair.

I came in with a huge disadvantage, as my group was the first to go. As I watched later debates, I realized several aspects I could have done better, like citing my sources while speaking. Had I presented day two or three, I would have surely made adjustments. So why must I be held to tougher standards?

I'll be the first person to admit that I was far from perfect, but I had never participated in or watched a debate until the presidential one.
 
Last year we had interdisciplinary assignments, which were a nice way once a quarter to take a break from ordinary classes. The work we did was for the most part interesting, and was hardly monitored, much like the debates. The only difference between these two is that last year if one did his or her work and put in effort, an A was easily achievable. It was nice to have one grade in which our effort controlled the result. I expected the debates to be similar, and I was not lacking in effort. So I was left with the question: What could I have done?