"April 6, 2023,
With pride, we announce that our team composed of Wiktoria Nadziak, Antonina Szeferowicz, Piotr Waśków (class 2MYP2), and Szymon Kuszewski (1MYP4) is one of the top eight teams in Poland 🙂
Our team qualified for the quarterfinals of the nationwide debating competition 'The Musketeers of the Word,' which took place on March 31-April 1, 2023, in Bydgoszcz.
Unfortunately, the team from the hosting school, General Secondary School No. IV, stood in our way to the semifinals, ultimately becoming the winner of the entire tournament!
We congratulate all participants in this verbal duel; it was a great pleasure for us to take part in this extraordinary event. See you next year!"
- Website of General Secondary School No. V in Wrocław.
The skill of debating is crucial in both private and professional life.
Everyone has, at some point, engaged in discussions with their parents or children on a topic, presenting arguments to support their position and wanting to convince them of their viewpoint.
I have a sister whom I love dearly. We have always spent a lot of time together. However, this doesn't change the fact that sometimes misunderstandings or disagreements arise, and that's when the skill of debating comes in handy. I can't count how many times I had to persuade my sister to support my ideas or actions.
In the professional world, debating is equally important. If you want to achieve anything, especially earn money, you need to defend your views and ideas, be able to support them with solid arguments, and persuade others to accept them. The ability to debate is what provides these skills.
During debating, we also met many wonderful people. We became closer friends with one of the teams, and even though we competed against them and won, they came to support us as the audience in the knockout stage the next day. We still keep in touch with them, and if we ever visit Gdańsk, we know whom to contact.
Although we didn't win the entire tournament, we achieved success in our hearts. Our team debated for the first time and managed to advance from the group stage in one of the most popular debating tournaments in Poland!
However, what matters most is what we gained from the experience. We learned a lot about debating, public speaking, crafting arguments, and official English vocabulary. I want to emphasize that whether you win or lose, the most important thing is the experience gained and the friends made along the way. That's why I wholeheartedly encourage participation in any such activities: they open up the world, teach valuable skills, and allow us to develop a fondness for things we might never have tried otherwise
