Student Testimonials

Micah Wang (of Emory Debate Team), 2023 NSDA Taiwan District Outstanding Senior!

For those of you who don’t know me yet, my name is Micah: two time smart debate finalist, 378th speaker at Stanford in 2018, and current policy debater. There’s a reason I continued participating in this activity: debate has not only helped me in my academic and professional pursuits but also in my personal growth, and I would not be the person I am today without it.

Through skills I’ve gained from this activity such reading comprehension, public speaking, and critical thinking, I’ve changed from the 5th graders watching youtube in the back of Ms. Jessie’s classes into a college-bound senior with an above-average understanding of the world around me as well as, for the parents: a pretty good college application.

I’d like to take this time to thank the people that made my adventure in debate possible.

Ms. Jessie, for always striving to give us the best opportunities to grow as students and as people: my life would not have been the same without the continued support you’ve provided me with.

Mr. Williams, for always getting your hands dirty behind the scenes to provide for our best interests. You, Ms. Clark, and the rest of the speech & debate team at TAS have always made for a welcoming environment, and even if I repay my gratitude with late forms and always being late at tournaments, I really am grateful for all you’ve done for the speech & debate community here in Taiwan and how they’ve helped me back.

Adam and Ray, for being amazing friends and companions in this journey. Though we’re in our last year of high school, I know you both will do great in college, and we definitely need to keep in touch.

Kelly, for bringing me into the world of policy debate and teaching me all that I know about the activity. I attribute a lot of the success I’ve had in my career to the guidance you’ve given back in freshman year.

All the upperclassmen: Ethan, Fiona, Jenny, Eming, McKenzie, Joy, and many more who I might be forgetting: for being the upperclassmen I could look up to throughout my life.

All the underclassmen: there’s too many to start naming: thank you for placing your trust in me. I hope you all can make this community even stronger in the near future.

Lastly, and definitely not least, my parents and Chloe. Thank you mom and dad for always being financially and emotionally supportive of what I’m passionate about. Going to Wuxi and celebrating each victory with my dad back in 2017 remains a core memory to this day, and I can’t express how much you both have helped me throughout my life.

Ray Wang (of Cornell), 2023 NSDA Taiwan District Outstanding Senior!

I was initially pushed into this activity by my parents – I remembered hating this activity at first. I even cried at my first tournament, here at this exact place, because I just didn’t want to be here. but as I attended more tournaments, I began to appreciate the activity. and as I gained experience, I became a more confident speaker, better listener, and a stronger debater overall. I even learned big words like “epistemology”, “ontology” – two words I continue to use in my essays at school.

But I think the most valuable thing I gained from my time in debate isn’t the trophies, or awards, or number of rounds won – it’s the fact that through debate, I’ve been able to discover my passions in different academic fields. Because of debate, I’ve cultivated a strong passion in politics and philosophy – two subjects I’m considering studying in college, where I’ll also continue to debate competitively. Because of debate, I’ve realized that I want to use my voice for a greater good, and I want to attend law school with the goal of becoming a civil rights lawyer – something I would never have thought of before debate. For anyone here who’s thinking of quitting debate, don’t, you’ll thank me later.

Ethan Tai (of Emory Debate Team with Scholarship), 2022 NSDA Taiwan District Outstanding Senior!

I was initially pushed into this activity by my parents – I remembered hating this activity at first. I even cried at my first tournament, here at this exact place, because I just didn’t want to be here. but as I attended more tournaments, I began to appreciate the activity. and as I gained experience, I became a more confident speaker, better listener, and a stronger debater overall. I even learned big words like “epistemology”, “ontology” – two words I continue to use in my essays at school.

But I think the most valuable thing I gained from my time in debate isn’t the trophies, or awards, or number of rounds won – it’s the fact that through debate, I’ve been able to discover my passions in different academic fields. Because of debate, I’ve cultivated a strong passion in politics and philosophy – two subjects I’m considering studying in college, where I’ll also continue to debate competitively. Because of debate, I’ve realized that I want to use my voice for a greater good, and I want to attend law school with the goal of becoming a civil rights lawyer – something I would never have thought of before debate. For anyone here who’s thinking of quitting debate, don’t, you’ll thank me later.

Fiona Kao (of NYU), 2022 NSDA Taiwan District Outstanding Senior!

Very grateful to end my high school debate with this award. There are too many people I would like to thank, my coaches, my partners, my friends, and all the judges and opponents I have met throughout the years. Collectively, these amazing people have made me the happiest when I debate and also empowers me personally. I would like to share two honest realizations as a debater.

1) Not every round is about winning and losing. One of my biggest weaknesses back then was that I took failures or losses too seriously to the point where I could not express myself freely. But debate has offered me a sphere that secures my thoughts, opinions, and argument and gives me the opportunity to learn to lose gracefully without letting my emotional side take over my sportsmanship. Many years after, I finally learned through painful experience. Debate is not always about the result, but about how clashing perspective spark a new idea or how discourses inspire realization in our mind and thus make us a more thoughtful person.

2) Learning to find my own voice through representing someone else’s perspective. During the early years of my debate career, I was not like most novice debaters in this room. I was much quieter and was not confident in speaking in front of people, but the process of roleplaying a distinct voice allowed me to discover my own. I was exposed to ample viewpoints that sharpen my awareness regarding any subject and was bestowed with unique voices to speak my mind. That is the power and benefit of speech and debate. That is how debate shaped me into who I am today.

Cynthia Lin (of Boston University, Honors College), 2022 NSDA Taiwan District Outstanding Senior!

Debate has shaped who I am. Starting debate from a young age has influence my way of thinking. I would instinctively choose an logical interpretation and point of view towards an event or issue. Evidence and logics are my best friends, they have taught me right from wrong, good from bad. Debate has also shaped my character. Couldn’t stand illogical argument or disorganized presentation, I always naturally become the leader (not bragging). I am not afraid to step up and give guidance and instruction towards others. I am keen to share different opinions and engage in passionate discussions. One of the utmost significant benefits debate has brought me was stress management. Everyone is scared to speak in front of the crowd, scared that u will make a mistake and become the joke of the year. But debate has taught me how to keep my cool under a stressful event. And how to speak up for myself when someone or I are not treated fairly. I don’t know if I can put my experience into words for only for u guys to experience them urself.

I am proud to say debate has made me whole and made me who I am today. My gratitude is extended to those given me the opportunities in the first place. I want to thank my mom for supporting me since the start of this journey. Special thanks to Jessie who devoted her time in maintaining a platform for debate each year and nurturing us from a young age. I also want to thank Julian and Mike for being there for me, replying my texts in midnight and accompany me through many tournaments. Without all these people, I wouldn’t stand here today sharing my experience.

Jenny Kuo (of University of Michigan Debate Team), 2021 NSDA Taiwan District Outstanding Senior!

It would not be an exaggeration to say that I grew up on ADL. Starting from the root word classes in fourth grade, to smart debate classes with Ms.Jessie, public forum classes, Lincoln Douglass classes, and policy classes…… I’ve surrounded my life with people and activities in ADL. From the little shy girl studying root words to me today, I can say that I wouldn’t have been here without ADL. There are numerous of things I’ve learned from debating these years, countless lessons, but I’ll be just sharing a few today

Having fun comes first , winning comes second. In debate rounds, I used to stress myself out, telling myself that I HAVE to win every single round of my life or else it would be the end of the world. Obviously I wasn’t winning every single round, I might have even loss more rounds than win, and the world hasn’t end. I was learning so much throughout a debate round. How to think, how to poke holes at my opponent’s arguments, how to sound like I’m right, how the world is working, how the world should work… etc All the new perspective I gain in each round of debate created who I am today.

The loving family I was lucky to grow up in. All my former partners, my fellow TPDSA staffs, my friends, and all the supporting parents. Although there were times throughout this journey that I’ve really wanted to quit debate. With the support that I’ve received throughout this family, I was able to persist, to pull through the blood, sweats, and tears. I’m so lucky to grow up in such loving family.

2020 NSDA Taiwan Outstanding Seniors

McKenzie Engen (TAS) – Kings’ College London

Kelly Phil (TAS) – University of Michigan Debate Team

Kevin Cheng (MAT) – U.C. Berkeley Debate Team

Jason Liu (PAS) – Northwestern

Andrew Xu (TAS)
Jonathan Sun (PAS)

Ginny (of Yale Singapore, full ride) Says Network of intelligent debate friends is one of her highest treasures gained from debate.

Ginny Hwang (DIS), 2019 NSDA Outstanding Senior is, without a doubt, one of the most active, driven, and independent students I have come across in my stay at DIS. Her passion in debate and forensics is something that she has carried both in and out of school. Although DIS lacks a debate program, I know that she has, throughout her high school career, worked outside of school to compete in both national and international tournaments. She has also challenged herself by attending debate camps in the United States as well as competing in different forms of debate. Within the school campus, she has also exhibited leadership skills through her dedication to DIS’s Model UN club, mentoring younger students along the way. Her work is an inspiration to her fellow peers and students in the school community [written by her DIS MUN Coach Mr. Alistair].

Confidence is what April has gained  from speech and debate.

April Tsai (TAS), 2019 NSDA Outstanding Senior, has been a tremendous leader in the TAS Speech & Debate program. As a competitor, she has represented TAS well at IASAS, reaching the final round the last 2 years in extemporaneous speaking, and also in the United States, reaching the quarterfinal round of extemporaneous speaking at the Cal Berkeley Invitational this year. As a leader, April has led our Forum Club in the MS and Forensics Society in the HS, including running numerous practices and training sessions for dozens of students at TAS. Her dedication to the TAS Speech & Debate Team has been critical to our efforts this year to grow both the MS and HS programs and we will miss her dearly next year [written by his TAS coach Chase Williams].

Bryan (of NYU Abu Dhabi, full ride) explains how debate has shaped his analytical thinking process.

Bryan Ying (PAS), 2019 NSDA Outstanding Senior, has developed an analytical mind and critical thinking skills through his high school MUN and Debates. He has seriously participated debate tournaments in the past three years, winning the second place in policy debate last year and qualified for the NSDA US Nationals. Since his participation in the NSDA tournaments both Taiwan and China, Bryan co-led PAS Debate Club and has been actively helping the novice debaters at PAS with his own debate experiences. Bryan excels in logic and philosophy, always seeing and interpreting the world and his own problems through his unique perspective. While debate essentially is the predominant manner in which he experiences intellectual growth, he is also an outstanding cellist, exhibiting instrumental logic and abstract interpretation through music [written by his PAS principal Pamela Chu].

Kelly Phil (of University of Michigan Debate Team)’s Mom Jessy Says Don’t be Afraid of Losing.

A mom of Kelly Phil, 2020 NSDA Outstanding Senior, shares her experience. If anyone tells you it is impossible to win in the U.S., tell them, yes, it is possible. I have seen Taiwan kids win in the U.S., even in TOC Champion, the most difficult tournament in the U.S. But remember, when my daughter first went to the U.S. NSDA, she lost every round. Also, Ms. Jessie often told everybody that when her son first went to the U.S. NSDA, he also lost every single round. So, the only reason why they got this honor today is because they didn’t mind losing, and they never gave up!!! So, I would like to encourage all of you to never give up!! ONE TIP: If you don’t send your child to debate intensive camps during the summer, then it will be very difficult for them to improve and win in the U.S. because that is what all the good debaters do in the U.S.

ADL Courses Help Anthony Hsu Pass ESL! Anthony in High School got the Best Film Award!.

On December 15, 2012, Virginia Shao came to ADL in the afternoon to thank us and share the good news! Her 5th grade son, Anthony Hsu, has passed the Taipei American School ESL exam with the highest possible score of “6” on all subject areas. This means Anthony will be placed in a regular 5th grade English track as of next semester, and Virginia believes it is because her son has been taking classes at ADL.