On November 9th, Mill Hill International took part in the English-Speaking Union Schools' Mace competition. Our school had three main speakers: Kendwa Kudakwashe, the First Speaker from Year 10; Deniz Gokbay, the Second Speaker from Year 10; and Rayyan Khan, the Summary Speaker from Year 11. We were pitted against Harrow School, and it proved to be a tough fight for both parties.
The topic of our debate was whether court cases should be broadcast or not. We opposed the idea, meaning that we didn’t want court cases to be broadcast. The debate itself lasted 6 minutes per speaker, along with 5 minutes for the summary. In total, counting both schools, it was 34 minutes of non-stop debate. Despite having only two weeks to prepare our speeches, in my opinion, we delivered an outstanding performance.
In addition to us, four other schools participated, making it a total of six schools and three different debates in one day. The event lasted from 4 pm to 8 pm, making it a long and tiring experience for everyone involved in the debate. Only two schools were allowed to qualify for the finals, but unfortunately, we weren’t one of them. In fact, Harrow also didn’t qualify. Nevertheless, we celebrated our attempt with a small pizza party with the debaters!
Although it may have been an extremely tiring two weeks for all of us, we tried our best. Even though we didn’t get through to the next round, we earned a certificate for our efforts and participation. It was an enjoyable time for everyone, and I would like to thank not only the main speakers but also all twelve people who helped us prepare and write our final speeches.
