“Would You Still Love Me If I Was a Worm?”: Students Represent Greenwood at Debate Tournament

The Debate Club at Greenwood meets every week on Tuesday at lunch. Students are welcome to join at any time and practise their oration and debating skills. For several weeks leading up to January 13, the club focused on preparing two of its members – Jasmine Chen ‘28 and Sam Robertson ‘28 – for the Fulford Debate Tournament. The tournament consisted of three rounds; the first two topics were given in advance so that participants could prepare and the final round was an impromptu debate covering a topic that the individual rooms would choose. Students were paired up to form a team and they would debate against another pair.

Unfortunately due to inclement weather the night before, the host school chose to move the tournament online. This change in format posed some interesting challenges for both Jasmine and Sam. “While the first round went well, my partner did not turn on his webcam in the second round,” said Sam. “I felt like I was just talking to a void, which made it more awkward. I can’t imagine what teachers felt during online teaching in COVID.” 

The experience was a great learning opportunity for both students. “During the first round, I had to improvise one of my arguments as my partner memorized all of his talking points and one of his overlapped mine,” says Jasmine. “I felt like it could have gone better, but I had to make the most of the situation.”

For the final impromptu round, both Jasmine and Sam’s virtual rooms chose to debate “Would you still love me if I was a worm?”. The topic is based on a viral tweet about a humorous hypothetical situation where one partner in a romantic relationship would turn into a worm. For the debate, the wormified partner retains their human consciousness, is unable to communicate and has a 10% chance of turning back into a human after 15 years. Jasmine and Sam both took on the position that they would still love their partner if they turned into a worm. 

“The most memorable part of the tournament was being the Prime Minister for the last round,” says Jasmine. 

Try debating this hypothetical situation with your loved ones if you like. One thing is for sure, the Debate Club is definitely ready to participate in the next Fulford Debate Tournament in the spring.