Debating’s Kiddie Pool: Reflection on NEWBIES

In the vast and ever expanding debating community, my name is probably not even in the regular circulation in the debating world. Then again, who am I really? Unlike my fellow debaters in my generation, I do not have many achievements that I can be proud about. Oh, don’t worry, this writing will not be a depressive rant or even a “why am I not as good as them?” kind of essay. I wanted to convey that even though I have not been as successful as my fellow EDS members or juniors, I feel like I have accomplished what I am able to provide most, and that is proliferation In this essay, I will reflect on my journey in EDS UI through my three steps of handling NEWBIES, the annual flagship debating competition of EDS UI that focuses on varsity debaters

Well, my first real experience and journey that I had in EDS was to become one of the participants in NEWBIES 2020 I still remember that day like it was yesterday, nine people were selected into three teams, to compete against other universities That was so cool and I still remember everyone in our “NEWBIES Nine” being really enthusiastic and awesome throughout the competition This competition also gave me a very bitter taste of defeat as my team was unable to advance to the elimination round after getting beaten two times by different ITB teams (A classic rivalry story ) in the preliminaries. If I remember it well, in this rendition of NEWBIES, UI kind of underperformed as we did not manage to make the final.

That defeat was a humbling moment for sure I was a member of a powerhouse highschool debating team in my hometown who would steamroll all the competitions.

Alas, I was outclassed by people like Joshua Glorius, an average high school debater and Hezron Kowardi, someone that has never even debated before. The defeat was eye-opening for sure, for two reasons, one is to highlight how I am actually not that good and two is how these people will shine if they have had better conditions for the debating journey My predictions were correct as six out of nine members of “NEWBIES Nine” managed to become crucial contributors to EDS, with four of them becoming top class talents for the debating world. Hezron is the president of EDS UI 2023, Cecilia and Joshua became great people in the debating world, and Joan (though retired) also became someone well respected in the debating world. How about the others in the NEWBIES Nine? They were not too shabby, some went on to achieve great things not in debating (Pici), some continued the legacy of NEWBIES (Me and Inggit), Jason chased his passion and is a very cool person to talk to, and Rara took a little break from college before returning back One simple competition brought arguably people who shaped the current EDS landscape. It was unfortunate that talents such as Justin Gabriel, Julvin, Aditya Manggala, and Daffa Aditya were unable to compete in NEWBIES. However, looking back at it, NEWBIES have really shaped up a new generation under the pandemic

The second year, I became a staff in the projects division, fully intent on doing the next iteration of NEWBIES. It was not smooth sailing, I will be straight with you guys. If it were not for my own passion and determination (oh, cannot forget Chika’s immense level of hard work), the project would have gone astray. The online market was really reshaped in the COVID-19 era, with how many debating competitions there were on the horizon, we were massively unprepared However, as we marched on, holding on to the belief of another “NEWBIES Nine”, I was determined to give my juniors the same feeling of camaraderie and competition. It happened as it happened, as UI A were able to snag the winner medal and brought back NEWBIES bragging rights to UI.

Looking back at it, that year’s group of nine all contributed back to the community, and though I don’t know the details of what they are doing right now, all I know is that they were quite active in the debating community. Diva is the co-head of Internals for 2023, The entire UI B (Haiqa, Yousra, and Nathalie) alongside Mayta and Bianca became prominent figures in the debating world. Although I heard some of them have retired from debating, I felt relieved that they have at least dipped their toes in the pool of debating. Eileen found better achievements outside EDS UI, while Hanin and Keish were integral members of the 2022 internals Keep in mind, there are also batches of talents like Vanness, Hayckal, Ney, Faisal, Ran, Rizky, Sutra, Jere, Fadel, Raynathan, and Kayla who contributed hugely to the debating world. I would say that this era was definitely one of most talented batches of debaters. Maybe, the online-ization of debating has really taken effect in enhancing talents before they even stepped in varsity level? I don’t know, but I cannot explain such talent for I don’t have them myself

The trilogy was completed when me and Inggit took a brave step to become the new coheads of Projects in EDS UI. Improving, reflecting, and keeping our resolve from last year’s NEWBIES, we managed to hold NEWBIES 2022 However, it may seem that chaos almost always comes to us, as that year we found ourselves with no available tabber. In my first encounter with NEWBIES I learned about how soothing the taste of defeat can be, followed by the second iteration that told me about how the world is changing (for the best? For the worst? I don’t know myself), then what can the third one teach me? Well, as life is full of wonderful surprises, the third iteration of NEWBIES teached me to tab a debating competition. All I can say is that I am so happy that my tabbing debut was not as bad as I thought

Now, to the talents, did I say that the 2021 batch were one of the greatest batch ever in terms of talent? Well, this 2022 batch might have the potential to break any glass ceiling there is. In my last NEWBIES ever, I managed to witness a pure domination from UI It was very unreal as I kept on rechecking every submitted ballot to see every adjudicator clicking “Win on UI” for all ballots in the elimination The best speaker was Rania from UI, now a staff of the projects division. I think it is too early to note achievements from the newest batch of nine participants of NEWBIES However, I truly believe that EDS UI will become even better year by year. As much as I want to continue this recollection, I was hit hard by the real wall that is time and reality. I cannot see past the present, but I truly wish what lies beyond this wall is great prosperity for EDS UI

Knowing how many talents NEWBIES UI has provided for the world of debating and EDS UI makes me so happy Everytime I see a successful debater that has ever attended NEWBIES makes me feel so proud for doing the competition for three years straight I truly believe that some of the talents that are currently running in the debating world right now may not be formed if not for NEWBIES as their first platform for varsity debating and confidence building. NEWBIES’ novelty as a beginner only competition makes it a safe place for beginners to start their journey. If debating were like swimming, it definitely is terrifying to jump into the open sea with lots of megalodon and killer sharks ready to devour you (rather than building confidence, you might trigger an inferiority complex instead ) NEWBIES then is a kiddy pool where beginners can learn the basics and maybe race swim with fellow beginners

My only question is, why has no one tried to make a competition similar to NEWBIES? It would benefit so many people and the debating community itself by welcoming batches of new talents in a place to show off their awesome capabilities. Right now, open competitions are being taken over by professionals looking to “train” or capable debaters that already have too much experience under their belt. To start in such an asymmetric condition will definitely kill someone’s confidence, as rational thinking will suggest that there is no point in fighting a battle you are most likely to lose. Someone will advise you to just be naive and “forget about it”, but I believe that you need to have a parameter on how good you actually are. Competing in a competition too high of a level you are in will just be a waste of your precious time to develop yourself.

Right now, I cannot be involved in NEWBIES anymore (or am i? Who knows, life is mysterious) in a meaningful way. I have given my responsibilities to Ney and Ckal to continue Projects as they are Only thing that I really want them to have is the same feeling of happiness to develop new debaters for the future in the context of NEWBIES Looking back at it, NEWBIES managed to create insanely wonderful people that otherwise might go unnoticed If there are programs in EDS UI that should never be touched, it is NEWBIES. The smile and arguments of the innocent young debaters as they look forward to performing well in their first ever varsity debating competition still gives me joy like no other.

All in all, this writing has been a chronicle of my journey in the wonderful kiddy pool of NEWBIES. I think I consider this a love letter and a very big thank you note to what EDS UI have managed to give me in my collegiate career. I am very happy to still be someone involved in EDS without debating In another universe, I might not have met most of the people behind EDS today because I decided to not submit my essay for NEWBIES 2020 The three years that I have spent in NEWBIES, from being a participant, project officer, and division leader have been the sweetest time in the organization I hope that EDS UI and NEWBIES shall last as long as debating is still something that exists in this world filled with complexities.