well.... D1s out..

I didn't see the round, but I know the results. He lost the round last night.

I'm proud of D1 -- he's come an amazing distance from the student I met in Intro to Philosophy so long ago. I can't even name all the people who've said of him, 'he's the best debater I've seen -- ever'. Not bad for a kid who seemed motivated, although kind of lost, when he more or less insisted that we have a debate team at BNCC.

As a coach I'd like to claim credit for his achievements, but I really can't. I can take credit for a) bringing him to the debate camp where he flipped the 'amazing debater switch', b) pairing him with D2 -- who was also all talent and no experience -- so they could learn together, and c) encouraging him along the way... really, not all that much.

The thing is, I know he had winning NPTE as one of his goals -- so it makes me sad that he won't achieve it. On the other hand, I can be nothing but happy about how good he got and how amazingly well he did this year. I also know that he'll achieve other goals, goals he hasn't even set yet. That's the amazing thing about teaching college -- our students may not achieve their current goals, but they have many other life-goals to go after -- and it's up to us to give them the skills and encouragement to go there.