St John’s College learner recently received best speaker award at the senior inter-house debating competition
Lili Spinazze said debaters mostly speak about about social, political and economic issues.
St John’s College learner, Lili Spinazze felt honoured and grateful after winning the best speaker award representing Runge at the senior inter-house debating competition.
Spinazze said she joined debating in Grade 8 but only took it seriously in Grade 9.
“I focused more on chess, but I decided to go into debating because I struggled with social anxiety and saw debating as an opportunity to learn how to connect with people.”
She added that the talking extra-mural helps her write essays quicker and think on her feet.
The 18-year-old noted that debating issues tackled social, political and economic matters that remain topical.
“My personal favourites are philosophical topics because they force me to think abstractly. With topics that are tangible in the real world, like social issues, debaters often use emotive language and hide behind the idea that their solution to whatever is being discussed is helping marginalised groups.”
Spinazze said while it is incredibly important that the most vulnerable in communities are helped the most, she found it a lazy way to debate because it does not rely on the intrinsic value of the argument itself but rather plays with the emotions of adjudicators. Philosophical debates, on the other hand, are entirely hypothetical, which is why she enjoys them, they force debaters to argue with brilliance.
In her spare time, the debater crochets and sews her clothing, “I started a campaign at school that encourages my peers to make clothes for charity. I think the best way that I juggle all the activities I participate in is by having clearly defined priorities and understanding that it is fine to sometimes sacrifice a debating practice if I have to study for a test.”
She concluded that she encouraged any learner who was interested in debating to read until he or she couldn’t read anymore.
“Listen to the radio, stay up to date with current affairs, and think deeply about everything. When thinking about the various problems in our world, remember that having an opinion alone does not make that opinion correct and always remember to be open-minded.”
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