The team participated in a competition that included 6A schools from across the state. With the competition being online this year, participants had to adapt to the new environment in order to be successful. Senior Shaurir Ramanujan said it required more practice to get used to the new system.

“It required a little more adaptation and a little more practice to get used to the new online format,” Ramanujan said. “It was hard to separate home life from debate life because it was all in the same place and it was all online.”

Junior Sabrina Yang said that the coaching the team received was a big part of their success in the competition. Specifically, she highlighted the encouragement that her team received from the coaches.

“When we hit a wall and we didn’t want to continue on, they would encourage us and push us,” Yang said.

Competition involved six preliminary rounds and five elimination rounds. The topic for the competition was the issue of criminal justice. Ramanujan said this topic made the debate more interesting and applicable to the social environment of today.

“It was definitely more interesting to do research this year because it was very socially relevant and I learned a lot more about what was going on around me the more that I did some more research,” Ramanujan said.