Why should you join debate?
There are both educational and social benefits to joining debate. First of all, you’ll become a better thinker. The educational benefits of having to produce and defend your own arguments, research and understand various topics, and listen critically are unmatched. Your vocabulary will grow, and your reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills will increase dramatically. Secondly, there are local and national scholarships devoted to debaters, and debate looks very impressive to college recruiters. Finally, you will have fun! Our team is close-knit and we have a lot of fun at practices and competitions.
Former Debater Testimonials
Today, I am in the Army. I am an interrogator and informant handler for the US government intelligence community, the army, and the DIA. I will be doing the majority of this in Indonesia and the Middle East . . . With an interrogation, I have to convince people that they can trust me. I have to use logical arguments, and sound sincere to convince them that it is in their best interest to talk to me. I learned this completely from Debate. It taught me how to argue with people effectively. Practice, in my opinion, is the only way you can get better at that. And there is no better place to practice it than in debate. It teaches you how to use reason, rock-solid logic, and facts to form an argument. – Military Intelligence, Forest Lake ‘07
While in college I have been given the opportunity be a member of a research team that deals with state-of-the-art virtual reality equipment. The group performs research at the direction of corporations like John Deere and Boeing. Debate helped me gain more practice speaking about issues that are relevant to the world today. It also helped me gain more confidence so that when I speak with potential employers at the career fair I know I am presenting myself in a professional manner. -University of Iowa ‘13 BS Mechanical Engineering, Forest Lake ‘09
Through every step of my educational and professional career, public speaking has been a required activity. While some of my peers are terrified of this, debate taught me the skills and confidence necessary to give an effective speech, lecture, or presentation. – USC '12 PhD Civil Engineering, Forest Lake ‘04
Debate was able to shape who I am as a person for the better. [It] taught me to think critically, challenge the status quo, formulate coherent arguments, use logic, and be attentive of the world around us, whether it's politics, our economy, and just overall world issues. I truly believe I am able to get to where I am thus far because of them. Debate really can change your life, it allows you to step out-of-the-box, meet new people, you learn how to speak in front of strangers, and many more benefits. – University of Minnesota, Forest Lake ‘13
While in college I have been given the opportunity be a member of a research team that deals with state-of-the-art virtual reality equipment. The group performs research at the direction of corporations like John Deere and Boeing. Debate helped me gain more practice speaking about issues that are relevant to the world today. It also helped me gain more confidence so that when I speak with potential employers at the career fair I know I am presenting myself in a professional manner. -University of Iowa ‘13 BS Mechanical Engineering, Forest Lake ‘09
Through every step of my educational and professional career, public speaking has been a required activity. While some of my peers are terrified of this, debate taught me the skills and confidence necessary to give an effective speech, lecture, or presentation. – USC '12 PhD Civil Engineering, Forest Lake ‘04
Debate was able to shape who I am as a person for the better. [It] taught me to think critically, challenge the status quo, formulate coherent arguments, use logic, and be attentive of the world around us, whether it's politics, our economy, and just overall world issues. I truly believe I am able to get to where I am thus far because of them. Debate really can change your life, it allows you to step out-of-the-box, meet new people, you learn how to speak in front of strangers, and many more benefits. – University of Minnesota, Forest Lake ‘13