FRISCO, TX—Aryan Bhattacharya recently earned fifth place in a regional competition on Nov. 9th for UIL (University Interscholastic League) Mock Congress. In this competition, competitors roleplay as congresspeople debating bills and legislation for the U.S. on topics ranging from foreign affairs to environmental policies. Competitors can improve rhetorical skills while engaging in critical thinking and collaboration. A round of the competition has several opportunities for competitors to show their debating skills.
The competitors go through several stages in a round. First, a presiding officer is elected who will take charge of the round and manage the round to move smoothly. The rest of the debaters vote on creating a docket, which is an order for the bills. Once an order is created, the competitors go through stages of affirmation, questioning, negation, and questioning for each bill. At the end of each bill, they begin voting on the previous question and continue as long as much as they can for three hours.
Bhattacharya has been doing debate for a long time. He started with tutoring in seventh grade and learned more about debate in eighth grade. He appreciates having opportunities to show his skills in debate through tournaments. “I’ve been doing debate since freshman year and I’m approaching my junior year and this is one of the last chances I have to show impact in competition with my skills and my capability in debate,” he said. “UIL was a unique place in which I could advance and could display my capabilities the same as in other tournaments. This year I’ve been to four tournaments, five including UIL, and all of those are congressional debate…what I shine in.”
For preparation, competitors are given a base docket that is a variety of bills they can choose to debate from. There is a lot of background research to do on each bill. After, competitors choose to create arguments for or against the bill. After the line of reasoning, Aryan chooses to start with a hook that’s catchy and gets the audience’s attention- sometimes it’s music lyrics or related to pop culture (whatever relates to the bill and catches the audience’s attention). Then he creates his sign post, which is like a table of contents for the bill. There are various things Aryan aims to add to his points. “I try to use sources with numbers for each one of my points so it’s more impactful and harder to refute. I try to always ensure that I refer to another representative who is also speaking during that time in order to create debate… [that’s] more active. For each point that I make, I try to refer to at least one other representative and make sources and numbers. I try to find impact in my speech so it resonates with everyone better,” he said.
Support from his family helped a lot for Aryan to gain confidence by creating comfort in low-pressure situations.”I tried starting maybe a month before the competition. Every night I would read out my bill to my parents and they would ask questions and try to fix the way I was speaking. One of the most memorable moments was when I was able to answer all their questions and felt that I was at my best performance level and it was a huge confidence booster.”
Additionally, this support allows Aryan to tackle adversity in competitions by providing a safe environment in which he can practice facing the challenges of debating. One of his biggest obstacles is maintaining a poker face throughout the debate. “[You have to] try not to show what you feel about a certain bill or what you’re being asked,” he explains. “It’s all about keeping calm, cool, and collected.” To overcome this challenge, Aryan emphasizes the importance of practice. He dedicates time to rehearse his speeches out loud in front of family and friends. By doing so, he builds his confidence and prepares himself to confront the adversities he may encounter during actual competitions.
Competing was a meaningful experience for Aryan who learned many skills. “Some skills I learned in Mock Congress were to find a way to make my voice… through enunciating. I learned about leadership and my ability to try to control the room. I demonstrated leadership by organizing the presiding officer elections during my preliminary round and passing certain motions to keep the congress and chamber running,” he said.
Aryan felt that the competition was a great experience for him. “It was fun! I enjoyed debating important topics with other competitors and learning about different perspectives. I also made a few new friends from the competition. Before the competition, there’s always a bit of nervousness, and looking at the list of competitors, I recognized a few who were quite high level. After the round, we don’t get the results back, which makes tensions rise, but I reassure[d] myself by saying that I’ve done all I could and I can’t change anything after the round ends,” he said. “It’s rewarding when the results come out to see that my hard work paid off.”
Aryan talked briefly about his reaction to finding out he was advancing to state. ”I was shocked but mostly just grateful for the opportunity to compete in the first place and I felt proud about being able to showcase my abilities in debate.”
Learning from other people helps Aryan to understand what to do better when presenting his points. “The biggest thing I learned from the other competitors was how I could be more aggressive during my speech because I found that they really shone during their speeches when they were refuting other individuals, and that is something I can work on,” he said.
His advice for joining Mock Congress was to have an open growth mindset. “The biggest part about joining speech and debate as a whole is to be confident in your speaking and be ready to learn. One more thing is to make sure you’re not overly sensitive to feedback because the tendency is to get very heated during the rounds. Come in with a mindset of just learning how to improve,” he said.
Aryan highlighted his goals for the future involving Mock Congress. “My biggest goal is of course to make it to [nationals]. [I want] to place pretty highly and I’ll do that by learning from other competitors and analyzing behavior that the other individuals did that I didn’t do that placed higher,” he said. “[I’m interested] in a lot of fields, and I think the skills that I learned from mock congress can be applied to a potential field in which I can make government healthcare policies.”
In conclusion, Bhattacharya’s positive experience at this year’s competition exemplifies the growth and development he gained in leadership and confidence His journey from initial nervousness to earning fifth place reflects his dedication to refining his skills and the importance of support from family and peers. The friendships he fostered and the lessons learned from competitors highlight the collaborative spirit inherent in such events. As he looks forward to future competitions, Aryan’s passion for debate and making an impact resonates strongly, positioning him as a promising voice in his community and beyond.
