Context: Our coach didn’t fully register us. I competed anyway.

Scoring: With the national LD congress and parli champion as my judge I scored one point below the highest possible, high enough that it had to be reviewed and approved by the man running the competition. We won the tournament, I was told my refutation won us the round, that judge is now my coach. I also got top 5 speakers out of 200.

Reflection: Proverbs says the heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. I showed up with half a plan and it was enough. The Catholic understanding of providence isn’t passive. You act with what you have and trust that what’s missing will be supplied. The judge who validated my score becoming the person now coaching me is something I interpret as an answered prayer. The Church calls these moments ordinary grace. Nothing miraculous on the surface, everything intentional underneath. I don’t know how this year will go. The first tournament gave me a good idea though.

Improvement: In the future I want to focus on the impact of my statistics, instead of just spitting out facts.