The Tournament of Words and Expressions

Su-Ji Lim

While February 14-18 of 2019 was another normal school week for Dalat students, a group of high school students had a completely different experience consisting of a whirlwind of stress, nervous energy, and chaos, but also a time of forming and deepening relationships.

The 41^st annual Forensics tournament had started.

Held at ISKL (International School of Kuala Lumpur), the forensics tournament consisted of a serious of competitions in the categories of debate, oral interpretation, original oratory, solo acting, duet acting, impromptu, and extemporaneous speaking. Dalat students each competed in two categories.

Although it may seem like a tournament is one of the last places to make new friends, every Dalat student did just that. According to Raven Chua (11), “Meeting new friends is always the best part about the tournament. It always feels awkward to initiate conversations, but I always get reminded of how friendly everyone is when I try to talk to them.”

And indeed, the students from other schools were very friendly and easy to talk to. A simple “Good job! You were so good!” could easily turn into a fifteen-minute conversation. Every Dalat student made at least one new acquaintance or friend. Those who had Instagram followed each other, while those who didn’t just treasured the names and faces of the new people they met.

The tournament also helped deepen existing friendships between the contestants. Elizabeth Horton (11) commented about how friendships deepened even in the midst of overwhelming stress. “Though there was constant pressure, it helped solidify friendships. People’s true colors show when they are under that amount of stress,” she said.

Three days of consecutive stress normally makes people lose their tempers and show the less desirable sides of themselves, but forensics students pushed through and bonded as a team.

All in all, the forensics team came back to Penang with new and deepened friendships. What made the trip so special was not the competition aspect of the tournament, but the relational side.

Forensics 2019 students and coaches. PC: Mrs. Lydia Roberts