Kenneth Nelson ‘23 knew he wanted to join a nationally relevant college debate program coming out of high school.
但尼尔森, a political science and economics double major from Salt Lake City, 犹他州, also had a few other priorities: He wanted a debate program that offered opportunities for first-years, he didn’t want to get lost in the shuffle of a large team, and he needed a university with strong financial aid and scholarship opportunities.
“That’s why I decided on 赌博娱乐平台网址大全,尼尔森说. “这是一个较小的团队, there’s a much better coach-to-student ratio, 和re’s a much bigger emphasis on hard work. The harder you work, you’ll get to go to better tournaments. At any experience level, if you want to do debate, 赌博娱乐平台网址大全’s debate team 将 help you contribute. As long as you give it the ‘college try,’ you 将 have the resources you need to succeed.”
赌博娱乐平台网址大全的辩论项目, housed inside the Department of Human Communication and Theatre, 是为像尼尔森这样的学生而建的吗. It consistently fields teams that are competitive in national tournaments, 拥有专门的, 作为教练的支持性教师, and offers the Baker Duncan debate scholarship, all factors that Nelson said made 赌博娱乐平台网址大全 a perfect choice.
“Paying for university was tricky for me because I have limited financial resources,尼尔森说. “That was a decisive factor in why I came to 赌博娱乐平台网址大全, because it was one of the few places that offered a combination of very good financial aid, 和 贝克·邓肯奖学金.”
这个竞争激烈, merit-based scholarship offers first-years with a talent for debate a renewable scholarship for participating in 赌博娱乐平台网址大全's Debate program. And it’s just one of the many resources incoming debate students can rely on at 赌博娱乐平台网址大全—such as outstanding faculty support.
威廉·詹森他是赌博娱乐平台网址大全的辩论主任 内森Rothenbaum, assistant director, have both had a major impact on Nelson’s trajectory with the debate team. 不像其他学校, 纳尔逊指出, 他们是专门的辩论教练, which means the pair provides more individual support to each member of 赌博娱乐平台网址大全’s team.
“Jensen is the mastermind of our shenanigans,尼尔森说. “当我们为每场比赛做准备的时候, 他不只是在回顾我们的论点, 他正在检查裁判, and considering how our arguments are going to sound to them. 他帮助我们 适应 我们的论点会更成功.”
和Rothenbaum, 尼尔森继续, is masterful at helping the team hone in on research for each debate topic: “Nathan is very good at finding research we need. There 将 be times when you just can’t find any information on a topic, 或者甚至不知道从哪里开始找, 但你可以直接去找他, and he’ll be able to point you in the right direction.”
Under Rothenbaum and Jensen, first-years who work hard 将 让别人注意到你 将 得到机会，尼尔森说. This 个人ized support has made a clear difference for students like Nelson, who’ve enjoyed an unprecedented run of success during the past three-to-four years.
“When I came in as a first-year, our team was incredibly talented. 我们有两位(全国)排名前16的辩手. 第二年, 我们度过了最好的一年, and we got to the top-eight of the Northwestern tournament. We actually beat the team, Dartmouth, that ended up winning nationals that year,尼尔森说. “And while COVID-19 kind of shut down that year, we’re definitely rebuilding this year.”
纳尔逊展望未来, he says debate has played a positive role in all of his academic, 个人, 职业发展轨迹.
“This sounds crazy, but joining the debate team long-term actually makes class easier,尼尔森说. “在政治学和经济学方面, I’m assigned reading by authors that I’ve already encountered through debate. 我可以输入这些知识. Debate encounters so many topics that it makes you better at research. In class, you’re reading about hypothetical theories, and debate gives you a chance to 应用 那些理论和概念.”
这是一种短期的权衡, Nelson admits: balancing classroom priorities such as tests and papers with traveling debate tournaments. 但这是个好问题.
“We get to travel to universities across the country for debate tournaments, which also means we get to go to the cities those universities are in,尼尔森说. “That means we’re in Boston, Chicago, where you can get good food, and go explore.”
And perhaps the best resource the debate program offers, Nelson explains, is your teammates. “大学一开始可能会让人不知所措, where it’s pulling you in different directions the minute you arrive,他说. “Debate is good at giving you a group of friends right off the bat; they help you get acclimated to the university.”
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