A brief preliminary intro:
I originally wrote this for the Denver Post Essay Contest. It details the events of a speech contest I went to, I didn't put it in events 'cause it's already happened.

In the heart of Colorado Springs something stirs. At the core of the Colorado College campus a catalyst for change is moving. It is not involved in the busy lives of the students who usually crowd the college center in droves. It is as separate and distinct from their frantic activities as the college is separate and distinct from the world outside. It is embodied in the large groups of high school students in crisp business suits who clog the arteries of the campus, chatting amiably as they make their way from place to place, sometimes pausing to look at schedules or maps. It is the NCFCA Colorado National Open, one of the premiere speech and debate occasions in the nation. The youthful tournament goers come from states as diverse as California and Virginia, and yet they all have two things in common; a home school education, and a desire to change the world for the better.

This writer was embedded with the contestants throughout the tournament, and had the privilege of witnessing firsthand their triumphs and travails. So much labor and genius should not go unrecorded and unsung.

The first day of the four day long tournament began at 11:00 AM. The first to register for the tournament and begin the competition were the Extemporaneous speakers. In the NCFCA league, an extemp speaker is given a quote, andthirty minutesto prepare a seven minute speech on that quote. The rounds proceeded until 2:30 PM, when the debaters began to flock in. The first debate rounds started at 4:30 PM. In the league, there are two kinds of debate, Team Policy, where two opposing teams of debaters argue public policy plans, and Lincoln-Douglas, wherein individual debaters support or deny the league's annual resolution based on values like Truth, Liberty, Justice, and national security. The Team policy rounds last a grueling hour and a half, while a Lincoln Douglas debate occupies a short but intense forty five minutes, and the round is divided into two 'flights;' the debaters from one flight timing and watching the debates of the next flight. At 6:30 PM the debates were over, and most of the debaters returned home. However, some stayed to welcome the visitors from out of state with a Western hoedown and social, which lasted until nine.

Many of the debaters awoke at five to make it to the tournament, which began its second day at 7:30 in the morning. After some brief announcements, the debaters made their way sleepily to their rounds. Even though many of the contestants were still engaged in rubbing the sleep from their bleary eyes, the debates were fiercely contested and the arguments flew fast and thick. As one contestant stated after a difficult round, 'They (the debaters) tear you apart with their arguments, but they do it so politely you would never know it to hear it.'

After the debate round came an Individual Event round, or a speech competition. Speakers are expected to memorize and present a scripted speech of their own making before a panel of judges, who, after hearing a number of speakers, rank them on their ballots according to how well they performed. Speakers go from room to room, sometimes delivering multiple speeches from many different categories. The categories include humorous and dramatic interpretations of literature, persuasive speeches, and platform speeches. After the speeches, another debate round began, followed by another speech round, followed by another debate round, wearing on through the day until well after dark. Although tired, the debaters and speakers exuberantly shared stories of their best arguments, their best deliveries, and the idiosyncrasies of their judges.