I was on the high school speech and debate team and I mainly focused on two events. I did impromptu and team policy. Impromptu was where you were given three topics and limited time to pick one and deliver a five minute speech on that topic. Team policy was in pairs and you and your partner would develop a thorough case that is used all year long to advocate for that plan and refute all arguments that opposing teams will present against it. The point of this event is to modify the case as the year goes to make it better and better.
There was one year that me and my partner were competing in states for our speech and debate league. We were doing incredibly well and had been winning round after round. It then came time to the round right before finals and during this semi final round it was very close and very unsure if we had won or not. When we found out we won as a pair we also knew who we would be going against in the final round due to hearing about it from other teams. In that moment me and my partner knew what could really get us to win. We both knew the case that the other team had been presenting all year and knew that if we utilized all our school resources that evening and our coach's help we could easily refute their entire case. It was definitely a potential moment for opportunistic behavior because ideally teams are not supposed to know what case they are going up against especially in the final round.
We made the choice to go in blind and not research much about their case and debate fairly since they also did not know what case we were presenting. Although we did not win the final debate round, it did feel good to lost fairly. I believe that sometimes acting this way and not taking advantage of circumstances and not necessarily acting opportunistically allows a person to learn a lot. As a team we worked harder and harder the next time to get to that final stage and I also know that I would not have felt as good about a win that was gained unfairly. The explanations of opportunistic behavior do amount to similar things and in this scenario as well. It was about being a "good citizen" and also not behaving in an unethical way. I am glad I did not act opportunistically and hope to earn every success in the future by doing the right thing
There was one year that me and my partner were competing in states for our speech and debate league. We were doing incredibly well and had been winning round after round. It then came time to the round right before finals and during this semi final round it was very close and very unsure if we had won or not. When we found out we won as a pair we also knew who we would be going against in the final round due to hearing about it from other teams. In that moment me and my partner knew what could really get us to win. We both knew the case that the other team had been presenting all year and knew that if we utilized all our school resources that evening and our coach's help we could easily refute their entire case. It was definitely a potential moment for opportunistic behavior because ideally teams are not supposed to know what case they are going up against especially in the final round.
We made the choice to go in blind and not research much about their case and debate fairly since they also did not know what case we were presenting. Although we did not win the final debate round, it did feel good to lost fairly. I believe that sometimes acting this way and not taking advantage of circumstances and not necessarily acting opportunistically allows a person to learn a lot. As a team we worked harder and harder the next time to get to that final stage and I also know that I would not have felt as good about a win that was gained unfairly. The explanations of opportunistic behavior do amount to similar things and in this scenario as well. It was about being a "good citizen" and also not behaving in an unethical way. I am glad I did not act opportunistically and hope to earn every success in the future by doing the right thing
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ReplyDeleteInteresting story, but on some details I didn't understand the whole thing. You said you knew about the other team in the final from the scuttlebutt of other teams you had competed against. Let's take that as given. How did you know the other team hadn't heard about your the same way? That part I didn't understand.
ReplyDeleteThe next part is on whether you'd use the information or not. I gather that you coach was a teacher in the school. Is that right? If so, was the coach in on the decision not to use the information? That wasn't clear to me. If it was the coach who was insisting on this, it is a less remarkable story, though it is good to hear about a teach who has a strong moral compass.
Back in the 1970s, I saw a play on Broadway called That Championship Season, which has a similar plot to the story you told, but the perspective is now 25 years later. The claiming of high performance, while in fact cheating went on, can weigh heavily on the participants, which is what makes this play interesting because just how much of a burden it was only unfolds slowly throughout the play. There was a movie version of this that you might find interesting to view, given the story you told.
I wonder if for you this was a one-off experience or if it somehow carried over into subsequent situations you were involved with. You might comment on that.