{"id":39,"date":"2021-09-27T19:17:10","date_gmt":"2021-09-27T19:17:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/fall-2021-volume-1-issue-3\/teams-success-not-up-for-debate\/"},"modified":"2021-10-21T00:47:46","modified_gmt":"2021-10-21T00:47:46","slug":"teams-success-not-up-for-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/fall-2021-volume-2-issue-3\/teams-success-not-up-for-debate\/","title":{"rendered":"Team\u2019s success not up for debate"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Courtney Morris<\/span><\/p>\n

Two years ago, debating without ever meeting your teammates or opponents would have been unheard of. But in <\/span>2020-2021, it was the San Jacinto College debate team\u2019s modus operandi.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Despite an abnormal year, the North Campus team celebrated a huge success this spring, sweeping up the silver overall sweepstakes award at the Phi Rho Pi National Forensic Organization National Tournament.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Erin Schachtner (top left) and Samantha Nava practice with coach Floyd McConnell through Zoom. (Photo courtesy of Floyd McConnell)<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Teammates Samantha Nava and Erin Schachtner also snagged individual silver and bronze awards respectively in international public debate at the national tournament.<\/span><\/p>\n

Earlier in the season, the dynamic duo made its mark at the Texas Intercollegiate Forensics Association State Tournament, where Nava and Schachtner tied for first-place top debate speakers out of 48 speakers from two- and four-year colleges and universities.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rounding out the debate team were <\/span>San Jac students Andres Quezada and Ismael Delossantos. Debate coach and speech professor Floyd McConnell dubbed it his \u201csmall but mighty\u201d team.<\/span><\/p>\n

Training and competing took place completely online. According to McConnell, the biggest challenges for debaters were navigating technology, ensuring internet bandwidth for practicing and competing, and polishing their camera presence.<\/span><\/p>\n

They rose to the occasion but were \u201cZoomed out\u201d by the end.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTo say I am proud of our students would be an understatement,\u201d McConnell said. \u201cOur team has truly proven themselves through talent, hard work, perseverance, adaptability, and resilience.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Nava credits her success to the motto \u201cfake it till you make it.\u201d At first, public speaking petrified her, but she acted as if it didn\u2019t.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBeing able to persuade people while engaging them in the conversation requires a lot of confidence in what you\u2019re saying,\u201d she said. \u201cI found the best way [is] to stay confident-appearing even when you are internally panicking.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Samantha Nava and coach Floyd McConnell show off the team\u2019s 2021 hardware. (Photo courtesy of Floyd McConnell)<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Another key? Persistence. Nava often crashed after long days packed with grueling debate rounds, but she set her alarm, woke up on time, and tackled more rounds, still performing at her best.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI met many new debaters who pushed me to do better, and I proved I could stand up to the ones who have done this much longer than me,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

While McConnell himself switched to a speech communications degree after debating at San Jac in the 1990s, Nava plans to pursue computer science. The skills she has learned from debate translate to any field.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMost people don\u2019t want to even try speech and debate because they are scared of the public speaking aspect,\u201d Nava said. \u201cThat eventually goes away, and you\u2019re left with overall better communicating skills and confidence.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Fall 2021 debate tournaments will continue to be online, but McConnell has seen the team adapt and rise to any challenge. This season will be no different.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact our team earned this prestigious award on the national level in a 100 percent virtual environment speaks to their talents,\u201d he said. \u201cSince COVID, we\u2019ve been thrown many curveballs. This year we understood what it means to be resilient. We will be ready to play.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Courtney Morris Two years ago, debating without ever meeting your teammates or opponents would have been unheard of. But in 2020-2021, it was the San Jacinto College debate team\u2019s modus operandi.\u00a0 Despite an abnormal year, the North Campus team celebrated a huge success this spring, sweeping up the silver overall sweepstakes award at the… read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":147,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,1],"tags":[],"article_type":[],"class_list":["post-39","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-college-news","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nTeam\u2019s success not up for debate - Fall 2021, Volume 2 \u2013 Issue 3<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/fall-2021-volume-2-issue-3\/teams-success-not-up-for-debate\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Team\u2019s success not up for debate\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Courtney Morris Two years ago, debating without ever meeting your teammates or opponents would have been unheard of. But in 2020-2021, it was the San Jacinto College debate team\u2019s modus operandi.\u00a0 Despite an abnormal year, the North Campus team celebrated a huge success this spring, sweeping up the silver overall sweepstakes award at the... read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/fall-2021-volume-2-issue-3\/teams-success-not-up-for-debate\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Fall 2021, Volume 2 \u2013 Issue 3\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-09-27T19:17:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-10-21T00:47:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/fall-2021-volume-2-issue-3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2021\/10\/TeamDebate_800.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"jconger\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"jconger\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/fall-2021-volume-2-issue-3\/teams-success-not-up-for-debate\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/fall-2021-volume-2-issue-3\/teams-success-not-up-for-debate\/\",\"name\":\"Team\u2019s success not up for debate - 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