BBS has succeeded in an impressive achievement with three of their students, Callista, Rico and Devina, as part of the main team and Joshua as part of the Development Team. Additionally, Valerine Hillary Wijono (BBS Bandung) was selected as part of the top nine debaters in the WSDC selection process. This record breaking history, where four out of five students in the top five belong to BBS, would not have been possible without the dedication and the longstanding support of their debate coach, Kristi Ardiana, who trained them since day one of their parliamentary debating journey.

During the pandemic and lockdown in 2021, many students found themselves with extra time after attending online classes during the period of home-based learning. Rico and Callista took advantage of this and picked up an interest in debate.

One of Callista’s friends encouraged her to give it a try and said it was really fun. “After I joined the first spar, I realised it was actually interesting and it was something that I would like to pursue,” said Callista. She proceeded to compete in more debates before deciding that she wanted to aim for something bigger and applied for the WSDC.

After the initial application for the 2022 WSDC, she is now ready with a year's worth of experience and has managed to achieve her goal and will be competing in the 2023 WSDC.

“I wanted to challenge myself further, and I was just looking for an extracurricular activity to do,” said Rico, a member of the 2022 WSDC and current member of the 2023 WSDC Team Indonesia. One of his teachers had offered a public speaking and debating program, to which he agreed to participate in. It was then that he realised he had a talent for debate and began to take part in it competitively, joining the 2022 WSDC Team Indonesia soon after.

Although they may be deemed as some of the country’s finest, in the competition, they will be going up against some of the best debaters from all over the world.

“I did the competition last year in August [2022]. It was very tough and these are probably the strongest high-school debaters in their country,” said Rico. At that time, he had only eight months of debating experience and was the youngest in his team.

Having only months to prepare, the team has been training tirelessly throughout the weeks. Balancing school life and debate training became a lot trickier at the end of the pandemic. However, with continuous support of their parents and the school, both Rico and Callista have managed to adequately organise the usage of their time.

“Debating will definitely teach you a lot of skills, especially in public speaking, which you will need even after university,” said Callista. Aside from the additional achievements in their CV, debating comes with many benefits, teaching skills that students may find essential in the near future. Critical thinking, researching and coherence are skills emphasised during the debate, according to Rico and Callista.

To students who are interested in participating in debates, Rico and Callista left parting words of advice, “Don’t be too afraid about debating. Just try it out, you might have fun and just do your best,” said Rico. “To add on to that, even if you decide to pursue it competitively, just have fun throughout the process and enjoy yourself,” said Callista.

Popular

Kadin urges stability after Constitutional Court ruling

Jokowi says transition to new government to begi

BCA loan disbursement surges 17.1 percent yoy in first quarter