By Kyungchan Charles Min, Santa Margarita Catholic High School, Grade 10
January 24, 2011___On January 8, 2011, the Irvine Valley College Speech and Debate Team hosted its 4th Annual IVC Winter 2011 Invitational Debate Tournament. From all over Southern California and even from parts of Northern California, students traveled to Irvine Valley College (IVC) to compete in the tournament. With more than 140 students and 70 teams competing, the tournament served as an educational and valuable experience for everyone.
Through this tournament, students were given the opportunity to debate with and against their peers on controversial and significant issues of today’s time. Elementary students debated on the issue of whether or not “NASA should mount a human colonization to Mars by 2030” and Middle School and High School students debated on the topic “In the United States, plea Bargaining undermines the criminal justice system.” Before the tournament, students spent countless hours researching and discussing the topic with their coaches and peers, and the morning of the tournament, students were still reading and revising their arguments. Students partook in a total of four heated debate rounds, and at the end of the day, both the students and the parents gathered at the IVC Performing Arts Center to congratulate all the award recipients.
Jessie Kim, who helped sponsor and run the event, commented on the significance of speech and debate in today’s world. “Debate, regardless of winning and losing, is an essential communication skill in society,” he said. “I hope that students have taken this opportunity to improve their ability to deliver arguments and speak clearly in front of people.” Students were not the only ones enlightened and motivated at the end of the day. Gary Rybald, Coach of Speech and Debate and Irvine Valley College, said that “even the judges said they learned from the students.”
The students were exceptionally fortunate to have Irvine Mayor Sukhee Kang come to the award ceremony and distribute awards. Before handing out awards, Mayor Kang gave the students in the assembly motivational advice and told them of how communication skills played a key role in his career. The IVC Winter Invitational was a major success in that the tournament helped improve the communication skills that Mayor Kang had mentioned, and at the end of the day, all of the students walked out of the Irvine Valley College campus as more educated and eloquent citizens in society.
