Last month members of Memorial’s debate team spent their Presidents’ Day weekend competing at a debate tournament in Cambridge, MA. Luke Gangler, Edwin Wu, Daniel Li, Anupama Bhattacharya, Vishal Narayanaswamy, and Brian Luo represented Memorial in the 39thAnnual Harvard National Invitational Forensics Tournament. Here’s what they had to say about the whole experience:
S&S: How did you guys prepare for the tournament?
Luke: Prep was mostly done with partners, writing cases, etc. (standard debate preparation).
S&S: How did the teams do?
Daniel: Anupama and I had a 3-3 win-loss record, Luke and Edwin, 2-4, and Brian and Vishal, 2-4.
Edwin: Nobody from our team broke (moved on to elimination rounds), but it was a great experience for the underclassmen to get national circuit experience, and also a great way for the seniors to end the debate season.
S&S: Any highlights?
Edwin: Vishal’s strange obsession with the Indian restaurant Chutney’s, playing board games until 3-4am.
Daniel: Meeting teams from all across the country. Getting judged by a Wisconsin judge (what are the chances?!). Playing Apple-to-Apples. Crashing at Michelle Yang’s dorm in Eliot House. Hahahaah, I agree that Vishal’s obsession was definitely a highlight.
Vishal: Obsession? Surely you jest.
S&S: What did you think of the Harvard/Boston area?
Luke: The Harvard campus and facilities are beautiful, and downtown Boston was great–lots of history. We had a group hug at the Boston Massacre sight, unknowingly.
S&S: What’s next for the Debate team?
Edwin: For most of us, the debate season is over until next year, but quite a few of the debaters are involved with forensics and Congressional Debate. Luke Gangler and I are headed to nationals in Public Forum
Debate in June.