By Jonathan Morales

2023年5月26日

当托尼·埃斯卡兰特在圣华金三角洲学院的辩论队参加比赛时，贾里德·安德森多次站在裁判台上。

When it came time to transfer to a four-year university, Anderson, 囊状态’s Debate Team coach, convinced Escalante to become a Hornet.

“I’m grateful (to) 囊状态 for providing the Debate Team, for supporting it,” said Escalante, a spring 2023 graduate with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology. “Ninety percent of the reason I came to 囊状态 was for the Debate Team.”

埃斯卡兰特是数十名萨克州立大学学生中的一员，他们培养了公共演讲和研究等关键技能，同时在当地、州和全国比赛中获奖。

“Confidence is something that people are drawn to and can help someone excel. I think I can speak in front of anyone and feel confident in what I am saying.” -- Tatiana Trujillo, Communication Studies major

这支队伍经常超出自己的能力，进行短兵相接，甚至击败了拥有更多资源的大学队伍。

最近，萨克州立大学的大三学生塔蒂亚娜·特鲁希略进入了4月份在伊利诺伊州皮奥里亚举行的全国法医协会（NFA）全国锦标赛即兴演讲的最后一轮。 她的两个同学在辩论中进入了半决赛。

The performance continued the team’s string of successes since it joined the NFA in 2014. 在成为会员的前两年，每年都有五名学生有资格参加全国锦标赛。 囊状态 participants regularly reach the later rounds, and the team finished 10^th overall in 2017, 2018, and 2019.

同样是传播学讲师的安德森说，辩论的平等主义本质是Sac州立大学能够与资源更充足的球队抗衡的主要原因。

“If I wanted to go try out for the men’s basketball team, there’s no amount of, ‘just work harder’ that I'm going to be able to do, because those kids are just faster, stronger, taller, more athletic,” he said. “In debate, if you want to get better, you can just get better. 多读书，多做研究，多投入，多听，多练习，你就会变得更好。 It returns on your effort more than any activity that I know of.”

从历史上看，该团队在任何时候都有25到30名成员，尽管疫情和在线学习使这一数字有所减少。 并不是所有的学生都去参加每一场比赛； five attended this year’s nationals.

Though the primary focus – and team name’s origin – is debate, recently some team members have participated in individual speaking events.

该团队与一门名为“辩论研究实习”的三单元课程相关联，该课程每周举行两次会议，包括讲座、课堂活动、讨论、辩论练习和嘉宾演讲。 该课程对所有专业开放，最多可修读四次。

学生没有压力或被要求参加比赛和旅行，并且鼓励注册课程，但不是参加辩论队的必要条件。

在2022-23学年，该团队前往斯托克顿，里诺，湾区，圣路易斯和宾夕法尼亚州参加比赛。 萨克州立大学每年还举办春季锦标赛。 Student fees and fundraising finance the students’ travel.

Anderson has been 囊状态’s Debate Team coach since 2013. 他之前在洛斯里奥斯社区学院区执教，在那里他作为一名学生开始参加比赛，然后转学到加州理工学院圣路易斯奥比斯波分校。

A 萨克拉门托 native, Anderson said, “The opportunity to coach at 囊状态 was a big deal,” as is “the institutional support for the Debate Team.” 在大学做教练也让他有机会和一些学生一起工作四年。

安德森说，除了友情之外，学生们还通过参加辩论队获得了宝贵的技能，包括批判性思维、研究和演讲技巧。 这些方面对他们的其他课程和职业生涯都是有益的。

“The No. 1 skill(s) that employers are looking for are oral communication skills,” he said. “It’s literally what we specialize in.”

主修传播学的特鲁希略于2023年春季加入了这个团队，这是她在Sac州立大学的第一个学期。 She said she initially felt nervous, but Anderson’s coaching and her teammates’ support helped her succeed.

在去年秋天的第一次辩论赛中，特鲁希略进入了四分之一决赛，并获得了参加NFA全国赛的资格。

“One of the things I’m most grateful for learning is being able to have confidence, even through feeling terrified,” Trujillo said. “Confidence is something that people are drawn to and can help someone excel. I think I can speak in front of anyone and feel confident in what I am saying.”

对埃斯卡兰特来说，最大的好处是他的研究技能得到了提高。 他说，一位教授立即认定埃斯卡兰特是辩论队的一员，因为他有研究和解释问题的能力。

“The ability for debaters to pretty much ingest knowledge and then put it into a way that makes logical sense is just better,” he said. “It helps a lot when it comes to, for example, writing essays.”

The just-completed academic year was the most successful of Escalante’s debate career, which saw him win three tournaments and finish a close second in several others. However, he said the best moment of the season came during the first tournament of the spring, when several of 囊状态’s first-time debaters – called “novices” – were announced as among those who would advance to the later rounds.

It’s those moments, he said, that illustrate the broader value of being on the Debate Team.

“Even if you don't feel like you’re going to be the best debater ever, it’s also great camaraderie," Escalante said. "It’s an amazing experience, and it will help you be a better student and a better speaker overall."