A week and half ago, a group of USST debators, headed by Lisa and I left Shanghai for the 2nd IDEA British Parliamentary Debating Tournament held at Beijing Foreign Studies University. They were put into three teams -- two debators on each team.
It was much colder in Beijing, but we were prepared for the coldest possible weather. Many among us were there for the first time, and took a while to get over all the awe and excitement. This debating tournament attracted 125 teams from home and abroad, and the debating system was British Parliamentary Debate, which was widely adopted internationally. Lisa and I were invited to serve as adjudicators in some of the debating rounds. Personally, I enjoyed judging the rounds, because I encountered some of the most brilliant debators and appreciated  their knowledge and insights on international issues, as well as their debating techniques. When we were not judging, we got to observe our students' debating rounds. I was equally amazed by their performance; considering some of them were just freshmen or sophomores, they were stunning. They demonstrated not only convincing arguments but also great debating spirits. None of them dropped out in any rounds, and fought till the end. Two of the teams narrowly missed the Octo-final by 1 or 2 points. The teams were a little disappointed, and thought they should've done better. However, they all know one thing for sure: they didn't lose; they got much more than the result.