Debate team wins first at district, headed to state

Stuart Beal and Fariha Sultana won first place in Cross Examination Debate at the district competition last week.

“We are so proud of them,” Debate Sponsor Kristin Thomas said.

It was Fariha’s fourth year to participate in CX Debate, and Stuart’s second year.

“We spent a lot of hours at Java Jacks preparing,” Fariha said.

Stuart added, “We learned to divide responsibilities so we could prepare in an effective way.”

Both students are involved in many activities at NHS. In addition to Debate, Fariha is also in Student Council, Interact Club and serves as president of the Science National Honor Society. Stuart is in Band and on the Swim Team. Both students are also in Model UN.

The amount of work required for all these commitments could be overwhelming, but the students agreed that they stay motivated because they love what they do.

“In high school we don’t have many chances to get into international issues,” Fariha said. “That’s an area that I’m really interested in, and that I hope to work in some day; so it’s rewarding to be involved in something that exposes us to those topics.”

Stuart said he’s competitive, and he doesn’t want to lose. That competitive spirit motivates him to push through when the going gets tough.

The partners also agreed that a great working relationship helped them achieve success this year. When one of them was stressed and overloaded with work for other classes and projects, the other picked up the slack during their weeks and months of preparation. This kind of give-and-take was crucial for them.

Their debate topic pertained to U.S. arms sales to other countries, and Fariha said they approached it from a human rights angle.

“Our past topics have been related to domestic issues, so it was interesting to have one focused on other parts of the world,” Stuart said, adding that he is also very interested in foreign affairs.

Stuart hopes to have a future career in politics.

“Debate teaches you many important life skills,” he said. “And more than other types of debate, it teaches you to work with someone. You can’t walk out of a round thinking your partner caused you to lose. You learn to share responsibility for whatever happens.”