Last weekend, over 400 debaters showed up at the University of Denver to argue about politics, race, religion, morality, and more. Each year, the United States Universities Debating Championships are held at a different collegiate institution. This year, DU and Regis were selected to host nationals, a great honor in the debate world.
Schools that participated included everywhere from the end of the west coast to the edge of the east. There were teams from the University of Hawaii, the University of Alaska, the University of Rochester, and the US Air Force Academy. There were Ivy League schools such as Harvard, Yale, and Cornell. Over 400 brilliant debaters and over 250 experienced judges and coaches. Our campus was buzzing with intellectual rhetoric for 3 days.
Debaters getting ready for rounds:

DU selected our top teams to compete and judge. While none of our teams ended up making it to finals, everyone did well in general. Our freshmen teams were all very close to making novice finals and are set up for a great season next year. Our senior teams ended strong - for many, this will be their last debate tournament ever.
Anxiously waiting for topic release:

The topics that were debated ranged from "This House Regrets the shaming or exclusion of members of social movements who are deemed not to meet standards of ideological purity" to "This House Believes That journalists who cover subjects in distress have a moral obligation to provide reasonable assistance to those who need help." There were rounds about international relations, morals, love, and more.
Our Snapchat geo-filter (designed by yours truly):

For this tournament, I got to judge. I watched many amazing rounds and a couple of not-so-amazing rounds. It was a wonderful experience, and will be remembered as my last tournament ever. I even got selected for judging a semi-finals round out of all of the judges!
After one long weekend, lots of laughs and tears, and lots of goodbyes, my debate career came to a close. Many of my closest friends were made through debate and many of my fondest memories. Being on a speech and debate team for 6 years taught me more about myself and the world than any job or class could have. I developed as a professional communicator, opened my mind to new ideas, and developed myself and my morals.
The first photo in the collage (top left) was taken my junior year of high school. The last photo in the collage (bottom right) was taken during this tournament, my junior year of college. In between, speech and debate brought me everywhere from Albuquerque to Kansas to California to New York to Oregon to Alaska. Thanks to this activity, I have gotten to travel to places I would never have had the opportunity to otherwise.

At the end of the day, it's a bittersweet goodbye. I'm ready to move on to the next adventure in life, but will ultimately miss waking up at 5am to catch sunrise flights, sleep on the plane, and give 7-minute speeches upon landing. It was an amazing 6 years, to say the least. To my friends, my coaches, my competition, and the activity as a whole: Thank you.