Two freshman novice debaters at Blue Valley start their season off with a bang, earning three medals.

According to Christina Milich, one of the two novice debaters, they’ve been to the Blue Valley Southwest tournament, at which they went 3-1, and the Blue Valley Quint, at which they went undefeated.

“Medaling is really fun,” Milich said. “It feels really good going up in front of the other schools and getting a medal — it’s just a great experience.”

Her partner, freshman Kolina Feliciano, agrees.

“It feels good, medaling sort of gives you a sense of pride, and you know you’re doing well,” Feliciano said. “I definitely think we need to keep up our streak [of medaling] just for personal record, but I’m not worried about it.”

With three tournaments under their belt, two of which they went undefeated, they said they are both very proud of themselves.

“I plan on debating all four years. I’d [be partners with someone else] if they needed me to, but I prefer Christina,” Feliciano said. “You definitely can’t have clashing personalities, because you need to be able to actually communicate with that person.”

Milich agrees. “Me and my partner usually work great together,” She said.

Debate not only strengthens your ability to speak publicly, but it also sets you up with an interesting skill set, Feliciano said.

“It definitely teaches you organization,” Feliciano said. “Writing your own speeches, and finding a voice in yourself.”

“You have to be very outgoing and be able to push through,” Milich said. “You need to be able to get hurt and just kind of detach yourself in order to win.”

Both Milich and Feliciano agreed that you need to know the case well in order to know what you’re doing in a debate round.

“I know the case pretty well. I can turn any argument on its head, [but] there’s always room for improvement,” Feliciano said.

Milich and Feliciano hope to letter in debate by going to five tournaments. With a winning streak like this, they hope to compete at the Novice sunflower tournament near the end of the debate season.

“We definitely plan on going to the sunflower tournament just to see how far we can get,” Feliciano said.

With new evidence every week, Feliciano said you need a systematic way of filing your evidence.

“We separate them by topic and go through the tag lines,” Feliciano said.

Feliciano also acknowledged this year’s resolution, or topic. The resolution this year is, “The United States federal government should substantially curtail its domestic surveillance.”

“Its been interesting, talking about the government,” Feliciano said. “This is really the most I’ve  ever done for political type things. Honestly, I just get the evidence and work with it.”

Feliciano says she hopes to move on to advanced debate next year, and Milich agrees.

“[Debate] takes passion [and] a strong attitude,” Feliciano said. “Definitely a heart to do it.”