On Sept. 15, while many students cheered Derby on at their first home football game, eight varsity and two novice debate teams were at Washburn Rural High School to compete at the first debate tournament of the season.

Freshman Jackson Davis was excited to attend his first debate tournament.

“This will sound really silly, but I wanted to prove myself. I look up to the varsity team and I want to be on that level,” Davis said, “When (debate coach Lynn) Miller asked about me going to Washburn, I was just so excited. I felt like he believed in me and with the varsity team there as well, that was when I knew I needed this tournament.”

The first tournament can be nerve-wracking.

“I was extremely nervous the day before and the day of,” freshman Addison Pagels said.

Although only the varsity debaters debated both Friday evening and Saturday, the novices arrived Friday to learn from watching varsity debate rounds.

“At first, I was mega nervous to be so far away from home without my parents,” Pagels said. “I was worried I wouldn’t be able to sleep well. Having stayed out until 11 (p.m.) though, I managed to fall asleep quickly.”

Despite the nerves, the novices still enjoyed the overnight aspect of the trip.

“You get to hang out with all the debate kids, and yet we weren’t talking about debate,” Davis said. “We were all joking and being just friends. You get to bond so much with these people.”

On Saturday, the novices got to debate.

“My experience could be summed up in one word: nervous-cited,” Pagels said. “It was frustrating having to double task so fast. Throughout the day it got easier, though, and I started to have fun.”

Davis added: “I felt overall my experience was positive. When it came to debating, I read my parts but always helped my partner. We relied on each other, and that was great.”

Freshmen Paige Schroeder and Kenzie Nethercot were eighth place, with Schroeder placing third in speaker points. Although Davis and Pagels did not place, they had a positive experience debating and are ready to improve.

“My perspective now is that I’ve got a lot to work on, but I’m ready for it,” Pagels said.

Davis added: “We always tried to stay positive, and for that reason, I feel the tournament was overall a victory for my partner and I.”

Besides motivating him to work harder, going to his first tournament also made Davis certain about his love for debate.

“The only thing the tournament changed for me was that I started not knowing if debate was for me, and coming out knowing that I was not going to stop until I went to the max number of debates allowed,” Davis said.