So Stanford was amazing, great rounds, great cases, great out rounds, and great weather. My partner and I went 3-2, broke into novice out rounds (on a tab error, we should have been 5th place team, not 4th, but who cares). We ended up losing our outbound to a great Fordham team, but it was so much fun. Mike and I got 5th place novice, such an improvement from the BU showing of 1-4.

The out rounds were fabulous. Oxford sent one of their teams that had made it to the finals of Worlds (which for you non-debaters is exactly what it's named after) and they were very impressive. In the semi-finals they beat (unfairly) the Chicago President and his partner, who is amazing and so good at mocking opponents, on a really interesting case, "The UN should employ mercenaries as peacekeepers." Throughout the round both teams used Jamba Juice as their analogy of choice to prove or disprove the loyalty of mercenaries. It was very amusing and spectacular to watch such high level debate. The Oxford team was very witty, succinct, and excellent at giving macro observations (which is really what separates the average from the best). It was a pleasure to watch. Great debating is so much fun to watch, even better when you can do it I imagine, I'll just need another year or two.

-Mr. Alec