On Jan. 12 senior Daniel Delgado competed in the Texas State UIL Congress Debate Competition in Austin. 

“Congress is an individual contest in a large group setting,” Delgado said. “It models the legislative process of democracy, specifically the United States Congress. Within this, contestants draft legislation (proposed laws and position statements), and they research the docket of bills and resolutions dealing with real-world  social and political policies prior to the contest to prepare their speeches. At the tournament, students deliver formal discourse on the merits and disadvantages of each piece of legislation, and vote to pass or defeat the measures they have examined. Parliamentary procedure forms structure for the discourse, and students extemporaneously respond to others’ arguments over the course of a session.” 

This is clearly a difficult event to compete in, and qualifying to compete at the state level is even more challenging; competitors must place within the top three at the regional level in order to compete in the State division. Delgado begins his preparations early, starting in September. 

“We started preparing for regionals in September; each docket is between 20-30 topics, we have to have a case in affirmation or negation of a topic but preferably you want both,” Delgado said.  “However if you make state, you receive a new docket with 20 pieces of legislation which is released in December and debated in January.” 

Not only is qualifying for the competition difficult, but they last for hours, as well. 

“Each session usually lasts three hours and it’s divided by a prelim session which after you make it is put in another three hour session, so overall it lasts six hours,” Delgado said. 

Delgado also gives some credit for his success to his teammates. 

“I wouldn’t have been able to do without the Congress team of Sierra, Rena, Draven, Grant, and Brenden, who also helped me prepare by either listening to my speeches, critiquing my presentation of the speech, or by asking questions related to the topic,” he said. 

Overall, Delgado was thrilled to get the chance to compete at the state level. 

“I was exhilarated that I had the opportunity to finally compete in State,” Delgado said. “As a senior who placed both times prior in top six at regionals, it was a very sentimental moment.”  

Although he did not place, this is a huge accomplishment for Delgado. The window is now open for him to apply for many scholarships across the board.

“I believe under the circumstances and atmosphere in the state tournament, I did do to the best of my ability which, for me, is enough,” Delgado said.