By Helen Li
Steven Lin, a debater, is a grade 8 student who used to go to Gleneagles Elementary, but switched to Collingwood this year. He was born in China, and came to Canada a few years later.
Steven believes debating is a way to express oneself in a structured way, but is also about being able to consider both sides of the story, because much of debate is about your own beliefs and how you view a topic. To Steven, debate is a fun, academic activity that he enjoys; a hobby that helps him have a deeper understanding of a certain topic, as well as help him have more knowledge of the world around him. His favourite style of debating would be PF, otherwise known as Public Forum.
In his path of debating, he got inspired by numerous people. Someone in particular that he mentioned was his first debate coach, because she showed him how debate can help with life. Steven also looks up to Phil Knight, the co-founder and chairman emeritus of Nike Incorporated. Even though Knight has no relation to debating, Steven still admires his perseverance. During the interview, Steven couldn’t help but wonder how Knight carried Nikefrom a small store in Oregon all the way to a huge multi-billion company known worldwide.
Steven has done debate since he was little, however, the past two years are his favourite. This year, despite the pandemic, and not being able to attend in-person debate competitions, he’s had more lessons and learned a lot more about debating. 2019 was also fun for him, because he got to travel to a lot of different places for competitions, such as universities like Harvard, Georgetown, Yale, and Stanford, to name a few.
Although he enjoys debating Steven also has other fun hobbies. For example, he has been skiing for about two years, and his favourite subject at school is either band or math. Steven enjoys band class because the projects are open ended and allow him to actually pursue something he wants to do. In Band, he is not just given a piece of music and told to learn everything about it. He also enjoys math, because as he says himself, “it’s fun diving into the universe of numbers and learning how they work together”.
Steven believes that debate changed him as a person. Now, he thinks more about everything, and sees both sides of the story. He thinks the most important thing about debating is having enough knowledge for each point. To anyone starting debate, Steven advises, “make sure you have a good beginning, so it doesn’t affect your points later”. He recognizes that he is not the best at debate, and will work harder to improve himself.
Steven Lin, a debater, is a grade 8 student who used to go to Gleneagles Elementary, but switched to Collingwood this year. He was born in China, and came to Canada a few years later.
Steven believes debating is a way to express oneself in a structured way, but is also about being able to consider both sides of the story, because much of debate is about your own beliefs and how you view a topic. To Steven, debate is a fun, academic activity that he enjoys; a hobby that helps him have a deeper understanding of a certain topic, as well as help him have more knowledge of the world around him. His favourite style of debating would be PF, otherwise known as Public Forum.
In his path of debating, he got inspired by numerous people. Someone in particular that he mentioned was his first debate coach, because she showed him how debate can help with life. Steven also looks up to Phil Knight, the co-founder and chairman emeritus of Nike Incorporated. Even though Knight has no relation to debating, Steven still admires his perseverance. During the interview, Steven couldn’t help but wonder how Knight carried Nikefrom a small store in Oregon all the way to a huge multi-billion company known worldwide.
Steven has done debate since he was little, however, the past two years are his favourite. This year, despite the pandemic, and not being able to attend in-person debate competitions, he’s had more lessons and learned a lot more about debating. 2019 was also fun for him, because he got to travel to a lot of different places for competitions, such as universities like Harvard, Georgetown, Yale, and Stanford, to name a few.
Although he enjoys debating Steven also has other fun hobbies. For example, he has been skiing for about two years, and his favourite subject at school is either band or math. Steven enjoys band class because the projects are open ended and allow him to actually pursue something he wants to do. In Band, he is not just given a piece of music and told to learn everything about it. He also enjoys math, because as he says himself, “it’s fun diving into the universe of numbers and learning how they work together”.
Steven believes that debate changed him as a person. Now, he thinks more about everything, and sees both sides of the story. He thinks the most important thing about debating is having enough knowledge for each point. To anyone starting debate, Steven advises, “make sure you have a good beginning, so it doesn’t affect your points later”. He recognizes that he is not the best at debate, and will work harder to improve himself.
