WSDA 2024 冬季冠軍賽火熱進行中！

“年度大戰”——WSDA 2024 冬季冠軍(jun) 賽 中學組的比賽 於(yu) 今日正式拉開了序幕~

對於(yu) 每位辯手與(yu) 演講者，辯論與(yu) 演講就是他們(men) 生活中不可或缺的重要部分。不論身處何地，他們(men) 始終在WSDA的賽場上揮灑熱情，不斷向上攀登，為(wei) 自己的人生博出精彩的一筆又一筆。

冬季冠軍(jun) 賽高手雲(yun) 集，參賽即為(wei) 一種榮譽，老師對每一位參加比賽的辯手們(men) 都報以敬意，希望你們(men) 無論比賽輸贏都要保持一顆平和的心態，不驕不躁不屈不撓；懂得悉心鑽研，細膩處事，努力付出的重要性，以及及時調整自己的狀態。

最後，為(wei) 大家點播一首《好運來》，祝願所有的選手都能在本次WSDA冬季冠軍(jun) 賽的比賽中滿載而歸！

開幕式精彩回顧WSDA Winternational Championship

01、Luck is when preparation meets opportunity

“Word that came up time and time again when I looked it up. And that was luck. So. Remember. People make their own luck.

Luck is when preparation meets opportunity. ”

- Cale Halley

Cale在開幕式的發言中回顧了WSDA校友的光輝歲月和成功事跡，他們(men) 在各個(ge) 領域都取得了優(you) 異成績，但他們(men) 不止於(yu) 此，他們(men) 都成為(wei) 了很優(you) 秀的“大人”，並成為(wei) 致力於(yu) 回饋社會(hui) 的富有同情心的人。他們(men) 成為(wei) 不僅(jin) 為(wei) 自己，也努力為(wei) 他人創造最好的生活的人。

他說道：“請務必把這次比賽當作一次機會(hui) 。每個(ge) 人都能從(cong) 中獲得最大的收獲。這意味著不僅(jin) 要努力獲勝，還要努力以正確的方式獲勝。努力贏得榮譽，贏得尊重。無論辯論輸贏，都要以自己引以為(wei) 豪的方式獲勝。”

Cale強調了誠信和尊重在比賽中的重要性，敦促參賽選手關(guan) 注個(ge) 人成長和榮譽行為(wei) ，而非僅(jin) 僅(jin) 著眼於(yu) 獲勝。借鑒龍的象征意義(yi) ，鼓勵辯論者進行批判性思考並運用邏輯進行論證，強調準備工作在創造成功機會(hui) 中的作用。

最後，他祝願所有參賽選手都能在比賽中取得好成績，並強調了努力準備和隨時準備抓住機會(hui) 的重要性。

02、成長來自於(yu) 勝利也來自於(yu) 失敗

在裁判代表Vera Zhao的發言中，她提到自己很榮幸能擔任WSDA冬季冠軍(jun) 賽的評委，也很感謝能有機會(hui) 繼續她的WSDA之旅。

Vera提到自己對辯論的熱情始於(yu) 高中，辯論為(wei) 當時的她提供了一種高級微積分之外的選擇，並向她介紹了邏輯推理和批判性思維。

Vera說道：“盡管最初遇到了很多挑戰，包括在斯坦福邀請賽上我和我的搭檔奮力拚搏的難忘經曆，但我們(men) 堅持不懈，不斷學習(xi) ，最終在地區、國家和國際級別的比賽中取得了成功。”

辯論極大地影響了Vera的職業(ye) 選擇，推動她走上了法律之路，至今她仍能看到法律工作與(yu) 辯論之間的相似之處。

Vera很感謝辯論給她上的寶貴一課，她鼓勵著大家帶著激情和毅力參加這次比賽，要知道成長來自於(yu) 勝利和失敗。祝所有參賽者好運。

Good morning everyone. I am one of the judges for the tournament and I am extremely grateful that I got the opportunity to continue my journey with WSDA as a judge, share my debate experience, and talk about how it has empowered me academically and professionally today.

My debate journey started 10 years ago when I was in high school. I actually signed up for it to avoid taking advanced calculus, and it turned out to be one of the best decisions I made. I remember walking into the debate classroom and seeing my coach outlining the fundamentals of public forum debate on the whiteboard during my first debate class. That day, the concept of debate itself attracted me instantaneously. Until middle school, the education I received has always placed great emphasis on giving standardized answers: the lessons we learn from history should be similar, and the rationales behind policies are always fixed. Public forum debate showed me the possibility of using logical reasoning and substantive evidence to cast doubt on the irrational and think critically about the potential pros and cons of certain policies. More importantly, it constantly challenged me to explore disciplines in which I had zero knowledge, enabling me to become receptive of the different voices and perspectives.
Apparently, I got way too excited at the beginning and encountered great challenges during the Stanford invitational tournament. Out of all the preliminary rounds, my partner and I won 1 round, because our opponent didn’t show up. Whenever I share this story with people, they always ask why I still remember it —- I mean, it was kinda hard to forget. I remember clearly that as we lost more rounds, I got so freaked out that I started to forget what the evidence was about; I accidentally mispronounced words; and in one extreme case, I started arguing for the other side. Eventually, all the frustration turned into great self doubt, which made me realize how much more I needed to learn and practice. My partner and I went from classroom to classroom to watch other debaters compete, learned the skills we lacked and practiced repeatedly. We then started winning more — from regional to national, and to international tournaments.

My debate experience has profoundly impacted me. Because I enjoyed researching, writing and making arguments so much, I became interested in the legal profession and entered law school. It’s fascinating how I still find a lot of parallels between the legal work I do now and the work I did as a debater back in high school. Whenever I read cases and court documents, I feel like I am reading the evidence packet; whenever I interview clients’ employees for internal investigations, I feel like I am doing crossfire.

I am so grateful for everything that debate has taught me. As you will start your tournament soon, I just wanted to let you know that you’ve all done your work and you will do great, and even if you lose sometimes, it is completely okay because as long as you have enough passion for debate, your passion will help you power through difficult times and become better. Thank you all and best of luck on your tournament.

03、團隊合作、溝通和包容

在校園大使代表Willard Mou的發言中，Willard分享了他作為(wei) WSDA校園大使的心路曆程，強調了組織辯論活動和促進討論的樂(le) 趣。

他強調了代表社區聲音的重要性，並為(wei) 有抱負的校園大使提供了建議：通過宣傳(chuan) 吸引學校加入社團、有效溝通並舉(ju) 辦令人難忘的活動。

Hello everyone!

My name is Willard Mou, a sophomore currently studying at the American International School of Guangzhou (AISG). I’m sure many of yall also know me for being the reigning champion of WSDA winter invitationals last year.

Being this unique role of a WSDA captain punched me with these endless stories. Just last week, AISG hosted a remarkable debate event with Basis International School Of Guangzhou regarding the fall case of whether “The benefits of resource extraction in the Arctic Circle outweigh the harms.” What I saw was in fact truly remarkable; debaters from both schools came out with laughter and happiness on their faces. From being an average high school student to taking over the debate club at our school and hosting debate events with the top international schools in our community, embarking on this journey as a WSDA captain has been nothing short of exhilaration. Every speech I perceived is not just the representation of ideas, but a celebration of power of discourse. It’s like an emotional rollercoaster, fueling commitment to my role of organizing events for our speech and debate club. But it was these moments that I find the true essence of my role for representing AISG as a WSDA captain. I feel privileged to be able to learn my role from a WSDA captain through means of understanding to raise awareness of the absence voices in our community.

Ok but that’s enough of what I accomplished as a WSDA captain. The reason why I am here is I want “you” to be the best captain in the future. Through this 3-minute speech, I don’t want “me” to be heard, but I want “we” to be heard. I want to share some advice to y’all out there is interested in starting a school speech and debate club, or anyone who does speech and debate in his or her school.

First let’s start by calling upon the success of any sort of club. You need a sufficient number of members. This can be achieved by advertising in you school community. For example, hanging up posters in school about an upcoming event or writing an article regarding your club in your school’s newspaper website.

Next, communicate with your club members. Along with two other student coordinators, I had the chance to work with the best and talented individuals in our debate club. Whether it's conducting workshops, facilitating mock debates, or providing assistance in researching with them goes beyond world of debate. It's about instilling confidence, fostering critical thinking, and creating an environment where diverse voices are not just heard but celebrated.

Lastly, it is time to host debates. Have the event be the most memorable experience for everyone. Provide food and transportation, give out rewards, talk with debaters from other schools.

Once again, I am very thankful to be able to share what it is like being represented as WSDA captain. Before I go, I would like to call upon more talented debaters like y’all to join in more WSDA’s tournaments - both online and offline - to represent your school’s sprit. Your voices are the reasons why we are today. Good luck everyone and thank you so much for listening.

04、堅持不懈的努力和持續不斷的支持

學生代表 Amber Yuan的發言中，她對WSDA提供參加很多辯論賽機會(hui) 表示感謝。她回顧了自己的辯論之路，從(cong) 2019 年第一次登台亮相，到成為(wei) Golden/IRON Speaker，再到領導學校的辯論社團。

在她的帶領下，學校的辯論隊取得了很多突破性的成功，不僅(jin) 提高了排名，還促進了公開演講和批判性思維能力的成長。Amber說道：“我們(men) 都熱愛這項活動，並在公開演講、邏輯推理和批判性思維方麵獲得了巨大的成長。在這裏，我們(men) 結識了新朋友，相互學習(xi) ，經曆了成功與(yu) 失敗，建立了團隊精神，並通過辯論探討了政治、經濟、法律和軍(jun) 事等各種話題。辯論給我們(men) 帶來了無數的收獲！”

Is everyone ready? My time starts…just kidding. I’m not about to deliver a constructive speech. Hi everyone! I’m Amber from Keystone Academy, and it is my great honor to be here as a student representative. I’m pretty sure that many of you guys are still cutting a card for your case or preparing blocks for your rebuttals, so I won’t bore you for too long.

First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to WSDA for giving me the opportunity to return to the debate stage, as it feels like returning to a familiar home. Over the past five years since day 1, debate has been closely intertwined with my life and has changed me in numerous ways.

I still remember the 7th National Tournament in 2019 when I participated in the original oratory division right after graduating from elementary school. It was my first time stepping onto the stage and being able to express my ideas in a loud and clear manner. Back then, of course I was extremely inexperienced. It was the encouragement and support from the professional judges and coaches that gave me confidence to move forward in the activity. Later on, I continued to participate in numerous online and offline debates, including the 8th and 9th National Tournaments in both public forum and world schools divisions. The results I achieved today would be nothing without consistent efforts and continuous support.

While engaging in speech and debate, I have also had the privilege of becoming a Golden/IRON Speaker. As a WSDA captain of my school, I founded an English debate club where we discuss and practice debate topics for each season outside of school classes. We also participate in tournaments together. In the recent competition, Keystone achieved excellent results in elementary, middle, and high school speech and debate, bring our school's ranking from out of the top 100 to the 27th place now. We have all developed a love for this activity and experienced tremendous growth in public speaking, logical reasoning, and critical thinking. Here, we have made new friends, learned from each other, encountered success and failure, established teamwork, and explored various topics such as politics, economy, law, and military through debate. Debate has brought us countless rewards!

Today, I am sincerely grateful to WSDA for giving me this precious opportunity. As this is my last championship tournament before applying to university, I will actively strive together with the contestants to perform well in this competition. We will adhere to the rules, respect the judges, staff members, and most importantly, collaborate with our teammates and learn from our opponents at the same time.

Lastly, I wish everyone a successful and enjoyable tournament in the next two days. Best of luck and happy new year! Thus, I “affirm the resolution”. Thank you.

巔峰對決(jue) 邀你觀戰

WSDA Winternational Championship