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

myself; I get anxious during roll call when all I have to say is “here”, so how on earth could I stand in front of a podium and argue for 8 minutes straight? The judge tapped the phone of her screen showing she started the timer. I read my evidence cards so fast I lost track of what I was talking about.
Once we finished with our first one hour round, I sensed devastation and experienced a premonition that we lost.

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

face.
The best part about that day was my evaluation given by the judge, she told me that I was debating at a varsity level despite the fact that I was in the novice division. I arrived at the ceremony with my partner, as I watched the rookie division finish receiving their trophies, the Novice division was announced next, surprisingly me and my partner won within the top 3 debaters. I had to choose between getting out of my comfort zone or staying in my bubble as an introvert. By attending this tournament, I chose to get out of my comfort zone.