Journal of the Rocky Mountain Classic

Afterthoughts on the Tournament

By Allegra Tschappler

Wow, what a time. Lydia and I had so much fun during these last three days. The first day we had four debates. Here's the record:

Round 1: Went aff against the Ford/Weber team and lost

Round 2: Went neg against the Lorence/Blum team and lost

Round 3: Went aff against the Albrecht/Albrecht team and won

Round 4: Went neg against the Scheumann/Scheumann team and lost

Between rounds 2 and 3, Lydia and I presented our speeches. Lydia did her DI (Dramatic Interpretation) and I did my OO (Original Oratory). Then Lydia did her OO and I did my Extemp (Extemporaneous). We rushed back to the third debate because the speeches got behind. Luckily, however, the debates were held up as well, so we weren't late.

The second day was fun because we had stayed up until about 12 pm.

Round 5: Went neg against the Burrough/Carabelos team and lost

Round 6: Went aff against the Miller/Favero team and lost

Between the debate rounds, Lydia and I presented our speeches again. This time in the opposite order of how we had done them before. Mom and Austin Kumbera sat in on my extemp, and the Meades on my OO. That was rather nerve-wracking, but I still enjoyed having the support there. Judges can seem so imposing sometimes!

The third day, we had gotten to bed really late again. Bethany Blackburn was having problems because she had taken too much asthma medicine, so that was an interesting start to the day. At the announcements, I learned that I had broken to semi-finals in extemp. I started crying like a baby.

Mrs. Anger, Daniel, William, Lydia and Mr. Anger were all so supportive, and I cried on Mrs. Anger's shoulder. What a cool family! William also broke in impromptu, although he didn't feel like he did well at the semis. I didn't do that well either. Neither of us broke to finals, but we were okay with that.

Lydia and I had such a blast hanging around Daniel when we weren't doing any debates or speeches. We actually didn't watch anyone else's except the Byrnes/Kumbera team when they went aff against the Rankin/Lewis team in semis. Daniel sat in on our last debate with the Miller/Favero team and was really encouraging. He flows so well!

Later on, the lights went out. There was a serious power outage throughout Denver, so the judges and debaters were looking at their papers during the policy debates with flashlights and cell phones. We won't forget that!

Lydia, Daniel, Mrs. Anger and I all re-organized the rooms how they were supposed to be for school in the dark, although I didn't help that much. Then we went and watched the rest of the awards ceremony. I got an award for being in extemp semi finals as well as for community service. William got a LOT of awards.

The lights came on towards the end, and we were all happy. We went around to the other rooms without our shoes and moved them back the way they were supposed to be. Leaving the Angers was so depressing. Lydia, Daniel and I all were somber as we left.

God truly blessed us during this tournament, and I thank you readers for all of your prayers.