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Alumni News
Talented Debater Forms One Half of Top Breaking Team at European Championships This summer, Class of 2016 Former Pupil, Ciara Mitchell, represented the London School of Economics to become the top ranked team (and 4th best individual speaker) at the European Universities Debating Championship. This came after her success at the same Championship in 2018, held in Serbia, in which she finished as runner up in the Grand Final. It also comes after a series of achievements throughout her time at university, including winning multiple competitions across Europe; ranking among the top 32 teams globally at the World Universities Debating Championship in South Africa; and finishing amongst the top 10 speakers at both the Oxford and Cambridge Intervarsity tournaments, which are among the largest and most prestigious in the world. The European Championships are the largest debating tournament in Europe and see around 300 of the top teams from all over the continent face off against each other over twelve rounds of fiercely competitive debate. This year, the Championship was planned to take place in Astana, Kazakhstan (much like Eurovision, the debate community’s definition of Europe is quite expansive!) yet due to Covid-19, was held online. This year was particularly special for HSD, as Ivan Kapelyukh – Class of 2017 – joined Ciara
in the rankings as the 7th best team in Europe whilst representing Imperial College London. Furthermore, Steven Roy – also Class of 2017 – served as Tournament Director and was instrumental to designing the software which facilitated the successful running of the first ever online edition. Ciara says: “My interest in debating was first sparked in 2011, when the World Schools Debating Championship was hosted right here in Dundee by our very own Irene McGrath. I volunteered to help out with the organisation and was lucky enough to have the opportunity to watch some debates in the process. I was awestruck by the clarity and conviction with which the speakers were able to artfully express themselves; fascinated by the challenge of having to defend a random point-of-view on a completely alien topic with limited preparation time; and excited by the idea of getting to debate against teams from different corners of the world. From then I knew that debating was something that I was desperate to pursue! “The skills I was lucky enough to develop from this hobby massively enhanced my time at university. Debating trained me to critically analyse the world around me, and competing internationally opened my eyes to different cultures, politics and values. Most importantly, debating taught me to have confidence in myself and gave me the tools to speak out on important issues.” After leaving school, Ciara completed a degree in International Social and Public Policy and has recently just started working as a Policy Adviser in HM Treasury. Of her further studies, Ciara says: “It was debating that first sparked my love for public policy, and I am very doubtful that I would have developed the same career ambitions had it not been for all of those weekends as a teenager driving all over the country to shout about banning school uniform! Most of all, I am incredibly indebted to HSD and especially Irene McGrath for the support, mentorship and wisdom which she shared with me constantly over six years. She has expertly coached generations of HSD debaters, many of whom have been selected to represent Scotland at World Championships across the globe, and I am very grateful for the opportunity to have been included among them. If anyone at school is considering trying out debating, my advice is don’t hesitate and go for it!” You can watch an interview with Ciara, and her debate partner Hamza Tariq Chaudhry, as they discuss ranking top at the European Championships 2020 here: bit.ly/34yCNxk
