Returning to Roots – Judging Policy Debate

After a 25 year break, I am back to occasionally judging policy debate tournaments on the weekend. It’s fascinating to see the ways that the activity has evolved, and ways it has stayed the same. I never thought I would get back into the activity, but fortuitously my eldest son Elijah decided (on his own) to join the activity. There aren’t many better ways to train young minds how to think critically and strategically, and although all speech and debate activities are great, I am particularly partial to policy debate. The number of policy debaters who go on to be highly successful in their chosen fields – and they aren’t all attorneys – is amazing. I’m happy to have this new shared interest with my son, and to be able to give a little back to the activity that gave so much to me.

Andy Reisman