Student Debate Competition

Some of the advanced students at my school signed up to participate in a city-wide debate competition with the other EF schools in Shanghai. The first heat happened this week. The topic was Earth Hour - does it achieve anything or is it just a show?

Our team took the competition very seriously, preparing for weeks before the event, researching the topic, & formulating a solid argument. They even went so far as to discuss details like whether or not the ladies should cross their legs during the debate. (In the end, they decided against leg crossing.)

Finally the day of the debate came. It was held at one of the other centers in town, & several other students went there with me to support our team. When we got there, we found out that the opposing team didn't show up. We won by forfeit (a new vocabulary word for most).

Too bad. They really put a lot of effort into their presentation. We held a mock debate instead, so that all that hard work wouldn't be for nothing. I was really impressed by the organization & professionalism they showed. I'm sure that if the other team had showed up, our center would have won anyway :)

Round 2 is in a couple of weeks. The topic this time is whether it's better to live in a metropolis like Shanghai or a second tier city like Guangzhou. They've already started preparing their argument.