I had already hosted a free debate camp for students in July, but due to the high demand, I led a second iteration of this camp in August because I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to reach more kids in my community. This time, this group of students were younger than the previous session, which presented excitement and challenges. At this point, I am familiar with organizing logistics and communicating with parents, so I focused my energy into adjusting to a younger group of kids.
In the first session, I had felt most alive and invigorated when the kids understood a new concept and gained confidence through mastery. While I still feel that in session two, I felt just as alive or invigorated, if not more, when I spent time getting to know each kid individually and building a friendship with them. One of the adjustments that I made for younger students was to shorten the entire day from 6 hours to 5 hours (including lunch break) and dedicate time for games. Even though there were more games throughout the day, we were still able to finish the curriculum I designed and cover the fundamentals of debate.
Just remembering the contrasting familiarity from my first meeting with the kids to even the second or third day is extremely heartwarming. Some were a bit shy at first, but soon enough everyone felt comfortable enough to play harmless pranks and even develop an interesting nickname for me that stemmed from a mispronunciation (which ended up sticking). It is in these moments of playful banter and conversation that I was able to learn from my students just as they were able to learn from me. They remind me of why I opted for such a small group and waitlisted many other students on a first-come-first-serve basis. Every interaction with my students that showed a genuine connection resonates with me. I remember the inside jokes, pranks, and personalities of each kid and how they inspired and helped me grow alongside them.
I am extremely grateful to be able to spend my time this summer to know the kids in my county better and for the friendships made that brought me joy, laughter, and growth. It was also a great success from the parents’ point of view in both sessions as they told me that their kids enjoyed the camp and had an increased interest in debate, which made me delighted. Many of kids asked me to arrange another camp in the winter or next summer, and I plan to follow up on their request! It would bring me great happiness if I could make them smile and help them grow in the future too. I hope that they were able to learn some debate from me, but more importantly, made friendships and connections that will last a lifetime.
