Personal Narrative Essay: Skyline Vs. Oakland Tech

12 months ago, as I walked into UC Berkeley's Dwinelle hall, I approached papers taped to a wall. I read my name on one paper that read; Skyline vs. Oakland Tech. It was my first time attending a debate tournament, the only motivation that compromised me to go was the free food, because I was unaccustomed to the new environment. Me and my randomly assigned debate partner were given each a 100 page packet of evidence for our topic.
We entered our assigned room number and saw the judge and our opponents seated. My opponents were on the affirmative side so they gave their speeches first. Once it was my turn to go up, the sounds of my heart thumping got so loud I grew afraid my opponents on the other side of the room could hear it. I thought to

All the other debaters seemed arrogant, confident, and strong, which made me look up to them. I felt crushed after each round because I had little confidence in myself- until the last round. During our break time, I went back to my evidence and wrote pages of notes for our rebuttal speeches, which I had no experience with. I was in a quandary about what I should do during the last round, it was our last chance to actually win. After I went to grab some orange sesame chicken from the food offered to us, I decided to pull myself together and I spoke with some other debaters. They told me that all I had to do to convince the judge was to sound confident.
As I prepared for the last match, I could tell my partner lost hope in me from his glances that read “what a beginner”, so I had low expectations from him. However, that did not stop me, I had this lingering eagerness barely hanging on to me. So as we got to our rebuttal speeches, I pulled out my wild card. I loudly spat out my inner thoughts with anger on behalf of the topic, my partner's jaw dropped and everyone's pupils dilated as they watched silently to what I had to say. I remember the feeling of fulfillment I had when I sat down with a twisted smirk on my