Anonymous asked: How and when do we find out who got the at-larges to the TOC? I heard that acceptances are emailed to the applicant's coaches but is there any way for everyone else to find out? Like are they going to post it on their website?

Hey anon,

I don’t know where at-larges are announced or how they are announced but my friend (who applied for an at large in policy) told me that the at larges are decided on April 1st (pretty ironic-don’t you think?)

Hope this helps! I’ll post any other answers up if I find out more about the process!

- Lucy

freedomtochooseourownchains asked: Ya dingus

What even is a dingus?

Anonymous asked: hey, i'm the anon who asked about coping with never doing well in tournaments, and last weekend i broke at my first tournament! thanks for the advice to keep on working :)! keep on making this tumblr awesome<3! *throws confetti*

<3 <3 I’m so happy for you! 

When I got out of my ‘slum’ and I finally broke I WAS ECSTATIC!!!! I bet you feel the same! 

And thanks anon-you rock!

-Lucy

Anonymous asked: I have 4 bids this year, but I'm not sure if its worth going to camp or not. I don't want to waste time going to camp with a bunch of novices and not learn anything, but then again, I don't want to miss out debating good teams and end up worse than everyone who went to camp at the beginning of next year. Any suggestions?

Dear Anon,

GOOD FOR YOU! 4 bids is a great feat! Honestly, if you ask me, it depends on what event you do! There is a public forum debater on my team who has never gone to camp but has 7 bids this year (or is it 6)?! He is extremely hard working and dilligent, but I know that events such as public forum doesn’t require the technical proficiency that you could obtain from going to like, policy debate or LD debate camp (for example). For me, I attended Policy Debate camp and I think that going to CX camp is pretty crucial, judging from the level of technical proficiency that is required in order to do well and have a competitive advantage. 

Also—going to camp with novices? That seems to be a good indication that the camp you attended is not very advanced. See if there are camps with more advanced 4n6 debaters/speechies! 

Ask a follow up question! I would love to hear your opinion!

Good luck anon!

Lucy

Anonymous asked: Ok so recently my freshman improv group got through to state which is yay. The thing is that at state we fucked up and went off topic. Our prompt was trying to eat on a rough flight and all I had to do was say that there would be som turbulence but I forgot and we got a 2. Now I feel like it's my fault that we didn't get a 1 or go to all state and it makes me feel like shit. Help?

Wow I haven’t been on this side in a long time. Thanks college.

Anyways, try not to worry about it. Yeah, it feels crappy if you mess something up. But if this is your freshman improv group, I take it to mean you’re a freshman. Which means you have three more years to grow and get better. And I don’t know how your system is set up, but making it to State sounds like a big deal so take pride in that. The best thing you can do is focus on the future and moving on. Dwelling on the past will only make you feel worse.

-Christian

Anonymous asked: I know winning isn't everything, but it makes me kind of sad that I've never won/broke/placed. How should i feel/cope/console myself?

Not breaking/placing is your incentive to work harder! Trust me, I know what you are going through and it’s tough, but just keep telling yourself that you will make it-and one day, after working tireless hours perfecting your piece or perfecting your case, you will succeed! 

I had a huge slum sophomore year when I had to transition from Novice Policy to Varsity policy—and instead of debating first year novices, I found myself debating fourth, fifth and even sixth year debaters—IT WAS INSANE! I only broke at one semis-bid tournament at the end of the year. It was definitely a lot different than getting awards at pretty much every novice tournament I went to.

But I worked super hard at camp that year and I’ve managed to break at another bid tournament early on in the year and I have won several regional/local tournaments and won several speaker awards so it’s been great! Just push yourself and keep on motivating yourself—I’m sure you’ll get out of your slum! 

Keep calm and carry on!

~lucy

Anonymous asked: How do you flirt with guys in speech? I find it really hard because there is always so much tension in the room.

I’ve sorta answered this question already, and like I said before, I developed a no same district dating policy after getting screwed over a few times by guys in my district.  But, if you do want to pursue such things, I would say just try to tell a joke and lighten up the room before a round, get everyone involved in talking or whatever, and then after the round(s) go up to him and talk to him about his piece.  Either ask him a question about it or tell him it was really good.  Then, the lines of communication are open and you can work your magic!

-Alie