Opposite page: Speech and debate team members Angela Li ’16 and Sayeh Kohani ’18; this page: the Model U.N. team at a UC San Diego conference
“It really sticks with them because they’ve learned it under fire,” says Rich. The competition also pushes students to do their best. “Some of the judges remark that after working so hard for four or five months, the kids are sometimes better prepared than the lawyers that appear before them, which is amazing,” Rich says. By polishing their skills and boosting their confidence, says Matt, the Model U.N. and speech and debate teacher, students are better positioned for success later in life. As he is fond of telling students and parents, “Any career that you might want to go into, except maybe becoming a mime or a monk, requires strong verbal skills.” Competition is one of the big motivators, he says, but not an end in itself. “Competition does fuel the fire of this whole thing, we’re not speaking to empty rooms,” he says. “The students wouldn’t do this if they didn’t feel a little bit of the heat of competition. But ultimately, my goal is not to fill up a trophy case.” As a teacher, he says, he always leaves an academic competition feeling very positive about the current generation of students, who will be the leaders of tomorrow. Matt says that both he and the parents who watch the competitions come out being so fundamentally impressed by the students … because they’re eloquent, passionate and thoughtful.
5 | The Crucible of Competition | FEATURE
Along with designing and building their robots, the students also must write the computer code that will direct the machines to carry out their tasks. The pressure was on, because the team’s first competition was just a couple of weeks away. “It’s fun to take a problem and think it through, and see what you can accomplish,” says Mary. The skills she learns while solving problems with her teammates, she says, “can definitely help on other projects in work or college.” The team experienced a moment of shared joy when the mechanism worked for the first time, elevating a bright orange plastic ball from the table to the top of the 18-inch-tall robot. “I’m so happy,” says Rhiann. “I can’t believe it works,” Mary exclaims. That sense of accomplishment is one of the key benefits of academic competitions, say teachers. Evan, who also teaches physics, says he took part in robotics competitions as a high school student, which paid lasting dividends for him in terms of personal development. “It’s huge,” he says. “You learn to approach a problem that you’ve never seen before and develop a mindset of how to tackle it. It’s something you can’t really get any other way.” Rather than telling students how to correct a problem with their robots, says Evan, he might suggest different approaches to try. “It’s really my goal to act more as a mentor than as a teacher,” he says. “They’re doing it on their own, but they can turn to me for guidance.” The many lessons learned by the students—from public speaking to research to teamwork—are reinforced by the competitive environment, says Rich, who coaches the mock trial team.