And then it was over.
There’s a tradition on APDA of something called the “senior speech.” You have the floor and everyone listens to your final observations, gripes, weepy anecdotes, and past glories. This really isn’t the same, but I wanted to take a few moments and leave some lasting thoughts with this team.
Sometimes you find yourself at a point where it’s all been said, it’s never been truer than now, four years of competitive talking, unnecessary long car trips, late nights, thousands of emails and voicemails later, I am finally, for the first time in my life, speechless. Or, maybe I don’t want to trivialize four very important years into words that could never justly convey my treasure chest of memories.
I’ll certainly miss all of this and probably for different reasons than your average complaining, competitive, and selfish debater. This organization taught me how to become an adult. It gave me the opportunity to see “exotic” corners of the world from Chicago, two Cambridges (one on each side of the pond), Glasgow, Toronto, and every respectable college on the East Coast at least once by plane, train, taxi, automobile, and bus. Moreover, this organization attracts some of the most fantastically brilliant, resourceful, quirky, absurd, articulate, combative, and witty characters Middlebury has to offer. I am the better for having known many of them (even at their individual worsts). The only way to describe this team is a family – and maybe debate trips are the miniature and endless family vacations. For all of these things I am strangely indebted to Midd Debate. I am really proud of who we are and how far we've come - even if the rest of the world never notices or cares.
As far as lessons I’ve learned and now want to impart to you, the list has very little to do with how to be a good debater and more to do with just being a good person. Nip problems in the bud before they explode. Conflict will constantly challenge this team – don’t let it destroy what we have, power trips are not worth it. Spend all of your money. Youngins, respect your elders because you’ll never understand what they had to endure in order to be here now (and that’s why we unconditionally get to ride shotgun). And lastly, I owe this final set of revelations to a bunch of hungry BU debaters because it was a perfect example of how you should not act: in my book, doing the right thing is almost always equated with being friendly, solving problems when they arise, sincerity, being a good host, learning and remembering people's names, and taking a step back to make sure that people have what they need... even if it means giving up a little bit of what you want.
Take care of each other – this matriarch has her own life to lead now.
Your former Secretary / Treasurer, President, Vice-President, and Captain -
Lisa
I have no idea where I’ll be or what I’ll be doing a year or ten years from now, but I promise to return emails, meet you for a gin and tonic whenever you are in my zip code, represent at our tournament whenever geographically possible, or do whatever I can.
And goddammit - the promise from five years ago still stands - first team to break gets a handle of their favorite booze.
