Over the summer, juniors Adam Tahirkheli and Justin Kim went to one of the most prestigious debate camps as roommates and debate partners.
The two juniors attended the University of Michigan’s Seven Week Program, a selective debate camp for juniors and seniors. The camp was held at the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor, Michigan, lasting seven weeks. Tahirkheli and Kim were among the hundreds of participants who were ready to research, analyze, and debate.
“Justin and I went because we wanted to be competitive and we wanted to be the best (at debate),” Tahirkheli said.
The debaters were only able to participate in the camp after passing an application process, creating a very competitive but effective learning environment.
“The people you meet (at the camp) are going to be the best people that you’ll be debating over the entire season,” Kim said.
At the camp, the two juniors were fully immersed in debate–they practiced debates, participated in research sessions, listened to lectures, and more. The students were broken up into different “labs,” each with a different set of teaching staff, including some college debate coaches. Debates were held between teams from different labs, and the students had up to four practice debates a week. These debates helped prepare Tahirkheli and Kim for the upcoming debate season.
“Practicing debate over the summer is something that I think is invaluable because it really puts you ahead of everyone else who’s not doing as much during the summer or taking a break,” Tahirkheli said.
Junior Matthew DaSilva also attended the entire seven week camp, while other debaters from St. Mark’s attended the last four weeks.
