Knowing how to argue has its benefits — junior Aliya Rife, a member of the debate team, claims that debate has taught her to “work well under pressure.” Rife and her debate partner, Eric Johnsen, spent the past five months preparing for debate competitions in the state of Indiana. South’s debate team began in 2014, Rife’s freshman year.

“I’ve learned sportsmanship because even if it gets really heated during a debate, you need to cool off and be polite to the opponents no matter what. I’ve also learned to work in a team. I had to make compromises and decisions with Eric all the time,” said Rife.

The weekend of January 28th, the team traveled to Kokomo, Indiana to compete in the State competition. After six rounds of debating against stiff competitors, Rife and Johnsen placed third in State.

Although good debate competitors possess the skill to think on their feet and weave factual information into solid claims, they do prepare extensively beforehand. “Eric and I did lots of research on our topic and worked really hard on our case. We went to Districts the week before State and that really helped us polish up our case,” said Rife.

Debate teams don’t know whether they’ll be debating affirmative (for) or negative (against) until minutes before the debate begins. Each session lasts about an hour, during which teams of two must provide statements and rebuttals in the presence of their opponents and judges. Although the collaboration of debate partners is crucial, the individual pressure is high, too. Each speaker on the team is judged according to their personal speaking skill.

Is the high pressure atmosphere worth the win? Rife thinks so. “I will definitely continue next year,” she said.