The Voices Foundation provided scholarship assistance for 28 students attending speech and debate camps/institutes during the Summer of 2012. Many of their families had been impacted by unforseen financial difficulties--in some cases, major medical problems; in others, the impact of the recession on their employment and income, among other difficulties. The Foundation is gratified that we were able to make debate camp a reality for these students. Their comments follow....
THEIR COMMENTS:
This summer, I attended TDC (Texas Debate Collective) for the second year in a row, and it was one of the best experiences I've ever had. The rigorous curriculum that TDC offers has helped me grow tremendously as a debater. Whether it was staying up late to read the famous Engstrom article, rushing to get to lecture, or going to office hours to try to comprehend ethical naturalism, I enjoyed every minute of my camp experience. Without this camp, it would be impossible for me to be a competitive debater, and without the Voices foundation, I wouldn't have been able to attend TDC. The Voices Foundation helps to diminish the ever-growing stratification of the debate society, and I can honestly say that it's doing an amazing job! Thank you Voices for this amazing opportunity!
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Debate camp is a tremendous opportunity for anyone to become a better debater. Going to summer camp allowed me to reach for new levels of debating. Whether it was strategy discussions, lab drills, or practice rounds I expanded my knowledge of the activity. The staff were top instructors from all over the nation who gave me the ability to break through towards the national circuit. The environment was amazing as I made priceless friends while gaining education in so many areas of debate. Debate camp showed me the best views of our activity.
The Voices Foundation was instrumental in my ability to go to debate camp. With college approaching for my sister and me, money had become a bit too tight for camp. But with the help of the Voices Foundation I was able to got to camp and now I can help out younger teammates!
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Debate camp has been an amazing experience for me. I come from a small school in an area where the annual debate budget for almost all of the schools is zero, and my teammates and I had pretty much given up on being competitive nationally because of the fact that we didn't have a coach and the exorbinant cost of debate camp. However, thanks to Voices almost all of us were able to attend highly competitive programs. The one-on-one attention and feedback we got was like nothing I've ever experienced. I've learned more about debating in three weeks than I had in my entire career so far. I went from being unable to pay for debate camp to winning the camp tournament. Not only am I prepared to be a serious national circuit competitior next year, but the networking opportunities available at camp have helped me meet college debaters and determine which programs I can look into for the next part of my debate career. Voices helped shape my future, and I'm eternally grateful for that.
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After two years debating on the small Washington state circuit, I felt like it was time to move up to a more nationally-competitive level, and the first step to doing so was going to a large, organized, and prestigious debate camp like National Symposium for Debate in Colorado Springs. I was encouraged by local coaches and friends on the circuit to go to NSD and bring my abilities to the next level. However, for a while, it looked doubtful that I would be able to attend at all. Our family has been going through tough financial times for several years now, and the burden of a large debate camp seemed too much on our budget.
However, due to the help from the people at the Voices Foundation, I found that debate camp was within my family's means, even with our financial situation. The generous support of Voices made it possible for me to pursue my wishes and go to the debate camp I felt I needed to go to in order to improve myself and allow me to become nationally competitive. It was only through the help I received that I was able to move forward and do what I felt had to be done to stay a strong debater.
My time at NSD was a huge help to me as a debater, and I acquired many new skills to move me forward to the point at which I feel that I can qualify for championship tournaments and become known on the national circuit. Over two weeks, I participated in many drills and was actively engaged in lectures by debaters who were often just one year out of high school debate and were thus the most keyed in to what was going on in the debate community at the time and what new styles and techniques were trending. I revised my style and made myself a much stronger debater. But it was only through the gracious support of the Voices Foundation that any of this was possible. Any future success I have as a debater I owe to Voices and the support they lent me this summer.
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My experiences at debate camp have aided in my growth tremendously. I went to camp expecting to learn about specific topics that I would potentially be debating this year, but it was so much more than that. I learned all facets of argumentation, both in debate as a communication skill and debate as a logical game. It increased my critical-thinking skills. Camp made me more than a topic master; it made me a great debater. None of this came easily. At camp, I was pushed to learn new things and learn them quickly. This type of work environment pushed me to new heights when I struggled to reach a deadline. Although it was strenuous, the help I was given at camp made this less daunting. Camp was a great way to make new connections with some of the best possible coaches I could have asked for. Camp was also a great place to make new friends. Living in dorms, meeting new people, and learning how to interact with people that I had never met before was one of the most beneficial ways I could have grown as a person. What I learned will make all the difference this coming fall when I am able to take back my new found knowledge to my team. I'd like to thank Voices for not only affecting my life in this way, but also my team's.
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This summer I had the privilege of participating in the two week camp at Whitman National Debate Institute. The experience gave me the opportunity to really improve upon my debate skills and allowed me to develop friendships with members of the larger debate community. I certainly feel that camp will give me the tools and resources i need to be successful in debate and also gives me knowledge and skills that I will carry with me much longer after my debate career has ended.
This extremely beneficial experience would not have been possible without the help of the Voices Foundation and its generous donors. Coming from a lower income family hit hard by the economic recession debate camp seemed like a virtually impossible prospect. The generous scholarship I received from Voices, however, made that impossibility a reality. I am so thankful for the donors that made this opportunity possible and graciously encourage those that are able to provide these incredible opportunities for other students like me.
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Attending the National Debate Forum Camp in Boston, MA was one of the most educational things I have ever done. Camp provided an excellent environment for learning and debate education that helped me personally grow as a debater. This experience will drive me to try my hardest as a debater and achieve goals that I never thought would be possible. I now know I can be one of the best debaters in the nation.
Attending camp could not have been possible without the wonderful help from the Voices Foundation. Being the child of a stay at home mother and a father who is a public educator, money was a large issue when looking into possible debate camps. Without the grant provided from the Voices Foundation, I may not have gone to camp. I owe every round that I will win, every TOC bid I might gather, and every debate goal that I could achieve to the Voices Foundation for making this dream a reality.
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This past summer, the Voices Foundation helped me to attend the Texas Debate Collective. Financially, my family is unable to provide little beyond the basics; extracurricular activities are a luxury for my brother and me. Lincoln Douglas Debate has provided a unique opportunity for me to truly expand my structure of thinking permanently. Because of debate, I oftentimes find myself viewing things from a different, and more objective reason based paradigm, which ultimately allows me to remove myself from stressful situations in my daily life. Similarly, the process of determining the "right" and the "wrong" that LD sets up motivates me to hold a higher moral standard for myself than I would have otherwise. That being said, this activity is very important to me. I believe that attending camp was the best thing I could've done to allow me to continue to compete and succeed in the future. These two weeks did not only tangibly improve my debating skills through experience with advanced types of argumentation (that I would, by no means, have learned on my own), but also left a resonating sense of confidence in myself as a debater and as an individual that I've yet to experience elsewhere.
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The two weeks I spent at NSD completely transformed the way I thought about debate. The small lab groups allowed for personalized feedback which was immensely helpful. I was challenged the entire time and learned to analyze every aspect of the debate. NSD provided me with strategies, skills, philosophical background, and most importantly, the confidence to take on the next debate season.
The Voices Foundation made my trip to NSD possible. With bad economic times and a brother in college, it was absolutely essential to have some kind of financial assistance to attend the camp. I am incredibly grateful to the generosity of the Voices Foundation. Their work has decreased the exclusivity of debate as a competitive activity. Thank you for this opportunity.
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Attending the Whitman National Debate Institute camp this summer was a great experience where a garnered knowledge, friendships, and memories which I will preserve for years to come. I learned about the many intricacies of policy debate and acheived a greater understanding and appreciation of this misunderstood, yet critically challenging, style of debate. Between lectures and debates, I found time to relax and meet like-minded high schoolers, most of which are now my best friends. And, due to the excellent staff and itinerary, the camp has stayed with me, along with the people, music, and ultimate frisbee that encompass that experience.
I would like to say thank you to the generous donors from the Voices Foundation, whom made this wonderful debate experience possible for me. My family has been through a very rough patch financially, and asking my parents to take on the burden of funding this venture was daunting. This Voices scholarship could not have come at a better time. I was able to overcome that financial burden, allowing my family to cover other costs such as travel expenses and pocket money. In the end, the experience at camp was undoubtedly worth the cost. Without the scholarship, I do not believe I could have made it to camp, and thus I am indebted to my Voices Foundation donors. Thank you.
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Thanks to the generous donation from the Voices Foundation, I was able to attend NSD this year, and this was a learning experience that I will never forget. Strenuous work schedules taught me the preciousness of focusing and getting work done whenever there was free time, as that often made the difference between five hours of sleep versus much less. Additionally, the curriculum was top notch. I learned the ins and outs of philosophy, alongside general strategic and critical thinking, all of which will carry with me even when I leave debate. But independent of the education, I also made many new friendships and had a ton of fun. Every day was filled with equal parts of learning and laughing, as the staff, alongside the students, were funny as well as helpful. Overall, Voices help make this amazing experience to happen. Thank You!
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Debate camp has helped me to gain experience as a debater, excel with philosophy and theory, and make new friends. I have gained lots of experience through the many practice rounds and the camp tournament. I got much better at debate simply by being able to have at least one round a day with kids that weren’t from my school. It was like having tournament rounds for practice. Also, the camp tournament was the hardest tournament that I will have all year. There were no easy pick ups like in the early round of most tournaments. Everybody at the tournament was a debater dedicated enough to go to debate camp. I exceled with philosophy and theory by attending week three. I never ran theory during the school year, but ran theory at camp confidently. I am sure that in the upcoming school year I will run theory frequently. I also got significantly better with philosophy at camp. I didn’t understand to much philosophy before, but now deeply understand philosophies like deontology. I also made great friends at camp. I met people in labs and lectures from schools all around the country. I became close with the people in my lab, making friends that I will see at some tournaments this year. I made friends with the people rooming near me, people at lectures, and people in lab.
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I am the only LD debater at my school. The easy route would have been for me to choose another event like PF or Extemp, but my passion is LD and I was determined to find a way to be competitive against all odds and the handicap of not having coaching support. Debate camp(specifically NSD) provided me with the tools, skills, and techniques to not only be successful in LD, but throughout my life. I can't say enough about the wonderful, accomplished, and very qualified coaches who painstakingly care not just about the activity but all the people in it. The support they offered me extends beyond my three week summer experience- I will have access to these coaches all year. I can't stress how much NSD impacted my life- I learned how to competently debate theory as well as many other ethical and philosophical frameworks. I was forced to work hard at NSD and it was a joy to be around others who share my same motivation, drive, and work ethic. I have no doubt that I will walk into next year prepared, confident and ready to win.
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It would be hard to convey how much I actually learned this year at debate camp. Going into my third year of debate, I learned components of debate absolutely essential for competition in the near future. I learned how to execute more difficult or technical arguments such as the K and theory, I learned how to use “in round vision” effectively and choose which arguments to go for (it feels like having a super power!), and I learned knowledge for almost every political subject imaginable from the daily topic lectures. These are going to be invaluable, not only in debate, but in school and in life. But, and I would really like to emphasize this, I did not just learn debate techniques that I would not have learned in any other place, I learned how to interact with other debaters. I was taught how to act like a friend and a good person, how to interact and build relationships in this wonderful accepting community. Above all else, I learned how to be myself. In a school world filled with every day pressures, and life constantly throwing new hurdles at you, it becomes hard to either remember or learn who you are and how you can always have a good outlook on life (especially when life really gets you down) but, with the help of many amazing and friendly lab leaders as well as campers, I was able to learn this important lesson and I can honestly say I have a more positive outlook on life and I was able to regain hope that I have been lacking in the past few months. So thank you all for giving me this wonderful opportunity.
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Debate rounds that end at 12:30 AM, a new case everyday, and spending time with some of the greatest LD debaters on the national circuit and beyond? Sounds like VBI. This summer, I was blessed with the opportunity of spending two weeks at the premier Lincoln-Douglas debate camp in the country. I worked with debaters who have achieved the highest pinnacles of success while competing at the Tournament of Champions, the most prestigious debate tournament in existence, within the past five years, as well as with past debaters who now held Ph.D's in philosophy or have graduated from law school. The intellectual caliber at my camp was beyond anything I had experienced before. But that only covers the staff, who are really just 50% of what makes VBI everything it is. My fellow campers are some of the most hardworking, driven, and generally intelligent people I have ever met. I will never forget the long nights writing cases, the intense debate rounds, and the wonderful friendships I have made at VBI. The knowledge and skills that I have gathered and developed at camp will help me dramatically improve my performance at tournaments and begin to speak and debate on an entirely new level!
A little over a year ago, my family and I left Cairo, Egypt, where we had been living for the past decade or so, as a result of the degraded security conditions from the uprisings. The move to the United States dramatically and negatively affected our financial situation. Despite the amount of time that has passed, my parents are still both unemployed. The idea of my attending debate camp was laughable, given that it was doubtful how we would find the money for me to go to college. You can imagine how excited I was when my debate coach told me about the Voices Foundation, an institution that offers scholarships to debaters who are struggling. Without the generous financial help awarded to me by the Voices Foundation, I would have been unable to attend debate camp at all. I am very grateful for the opportunity and know I will make it all worthwhile as I begin the debate year
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This last summer, I attended the National Symposium for Debate. It was easily the most fun and educational experience I have had as a debater, and my debate ability definitely improved throughout the two weeks of camp. Every day I attended very helpful labs and lectures, which were all informative and insightful. All of the lab leaders and lecturers were excellent, and I was glad to learn about debate from the best coaches in the country.
The Voices Foundation was instrumental in allowing me to go to debate camp. Going to a major debate camp is crucial, perhaps necessary, for success debating on the national circuit and I would not have been able to attend NSD this year without the help of the foundation. I am very thankful for the help that the Voices Foundation has given me in preparing me for debate success.
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Going to VBI this summer really helped me grow as a debater. I learned more than I though I ever could in two weeks. Every day - through lectures and lab and drills - I could tell I was getting better. I was able to debate faster. I could understand more arguments. All my skills improved. I learned from the leaders, the staff, even other students. There was always something to learn from somebody.
Coming from a family with very little money, debate is kind of a hard interest to finance. Between traveling tournaments, hotel stays, being gone away from home, debate gets pricey. So, when I asked to fly to California this summer for camp, it seemed rather unreasonable. But I wanted to go more than anything. I love debate, it's what I enjoy and what I'm good at. VBI sounded perfect for me, and the only way to go would be through scholarships. I was lucky enough to receive scholarships from both VBI and the Voices Foundation, and combined, was able to go. It was such a good experience, I hope I can go again next year and am so thankful to the Voices Foundation for letting me have this opportunity.
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If I hadn’t attended the Southwest Debate Institute in Arizona this summer I would not have stayed at the caliber I was debating at towards the end of the season last year and wouldn’t have been in the position to improve that much more while at camp. Attending Southwest gave me the opportunity to spend two rigorous weeks expanding my knowledge in all important aspects of debate as I stayed up night after night polishing cases or reading some obscure branch of philosophy I had learned about earlier that day. All in all debate camp is ultimately what helped me figure out and shape exactly what kind of debater I want to be next year.
As I was scanning debate camps this year it became apparent to me that given my family’s financial situation I would not be able to attend any camp in the country unless I got a substantial portion of the cost covered from an external source. Combined with Southwests’ financial aid the Voices scholarship was able to cover 100% of my camps cost-something I couldn’t put into words for how grateful I am. Voices is named pretty accurately after what it does because it give those kids passionate and dedicated enough the means necessary to have a voice in an activity where often times the monetary hurdles are big enough to prevent participants from going to certain tournaments or worse-even continuing the activity at all. The Voices Foundation recognizes the importance of helping all individuals stay in the activity that teaches us to question everything and never stop expanding our knowledge about the way we see the world around us. Thank you Voices for an opportunity that wouldn't have been made possible
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This was my last time attending debate camp. I attended UNT which along with being educational it was also a lot of fun. Most of my time was spent in my lab which allowed me to get close to my fellow mates and to challenge myself with drills that focused on what we had been taught in the lectures we had attended. I spent time with instructors which helped me improve my skills as a debater in a variety of ways. The discussions I participated in with my fellow mates and instructors were very in depth and led me to think about the resolution in ways I never would have before. Debate camp at UNT made debate more interesting and challenging and fun at a whole new level especially during the Group Debate which was extremely fun and a bit funny at times. Without Voices foundation my experience at debate camp would have never happened. Once again thank you!!!
Without Voices Foundation I would not have been able to pay for the tuition for my attendance a UNT. With my mother being out of work, and my father working 12hr shifts to make ends meet it was very difficult for my parents to set money aside for debate camp. My parents really don’t understand what debate is, but they helped me save money for debate camp it was extremely hard to save but my dedication to LD kept me on track. At the end of the school year I was a little short for the tuition for UNT, but Voices Foundation covered the last bit I needed to achieve my goal of attending debate camp for my last time.
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I attended the University of Texas National Institute of Forensics (UTNIF) this summer with help from the Voices Foundation. Having participated in Cross Examination Debate for all of my high school career, attending debate camp was instrumental in helping me switch over to Lincoln Douglas Debate. I have no doubt that it has greatly bolstered my ability to be competitive on the state, and even national level. This would not have been possible without the assistance given to me by the Voices Foundation, for which I am profoundly grateful.