Aisha Sheikh

_{2017 Harvard Invitational, 9th place
Boston University '21}

I debated for a very small school in Richmond, Texas, meaning I did not have the prep and coaching advantage that other schools on my circuit had. I had never even heard of the national circuit until the beginning of my junior year, and my school made it very difficult for me to travel to tournaments to compete in general. Prior to joining the DebateDrills Club Team, I severely lacked confidence to even compete at bid tournaments. I personally believe that joining the Club Team was one of the best decisions I made in my high school debate career. The prep in the Club Team made me more comfortable going into rounds and debating about topic specific arguments without fear of a lack of prep. The Club Team also boosted my confidence going into tournaments, knowing I had all the necessary tools to be successful at a tournament.

I think the best thing about the DebateDrills Club Team was the community/family I was able to meet. The mix of debaters that included debaters who topped the bid list to debaters who were just trying to get their first bid really motivated me to never stop trying. Every time someone in the Club Team did well at a tournament, I was genuinely happy for them and treated them like they were on my own school team. Because my school does not have a large debate program, I really felt that the Club Team provided me with a sense of hard work and commitment, to not only do better as a debater myself but to make it to where I could motivate and support the other members of the Club Team.

Without the DebateDrills Club Team, I don’t think I would’ve ever dreamed of late elims at any bid tournaments. The support you get from not only the coaches but your team is unreal. As a lone wolf debater that didn’t really have a team, a dozen coaches, and an enormous amount of prep to count on, the DebateDrills Club Team really helped me feel like I finally was a part of the debate community. Debate can be very exclusionary, especially when you come from a small school, but DebateDrills established a sort of team environment that has you rooting for the success of the other members in the Club Team. The amount of prep that is put into the Club Team requires hard work and commitment, but if you are serious about getting better and even earning a bid in the future, I would highly recommend DebateDrills to help get you there.