Interview: UU1, Worlds Semi-Finalists

KIDA TALKS Interview: UU 1,

ESL Semi-Finalists, 

Berlin WUDC 2012/13

Underwood Union 1 (Sungryul Park and Yoonji Ko) has achieved a unprecedented success at Worlds 2012/13 in Berlin. When they advanced to the ESL Quarter-Final, Korean debate community cheered them on from the other side of the world. They went to the Semi-Final and came back home with the title of Worlds ESl Semi-Finalists. How did they do it? What did they learn? How was the hottest in WUDC? :)

Let the story begin :) 

Would you briefly introduce yourself?

Sungryul (SR): Hi, my name is Sungryul Park, Junior (10) of Yonsei University Underwood International College, majoring in Political Science and International Relations as well as Economics. So far I have been Quarter-finalist in NEAO and KNC.

Yoonji (YJ): Hi, my name is Yoonji Ko from Underwood Union. I am double majoring in Political Science and International Relations and Philosophy, though I am regretting my decision to double major at the moment. I started debating in university and find it very fun, (though frustrating at times.) I want to adjudicate from time to time, especially to give a chance for my Juniors, but every time a tournament comes up, I just can’t give up the spot! Maybe in a few years, I will adjudicate.  

Share with us the Good, Bad, and the Ugly of WUDC 2013!

SR

Good: Definitely the weather. The weather was exceptionally good—heard that it was more like a “heat wave”—and therefore the trip to Germany was a good haven to escape the winter of Korea (and of course the beer).
Bad: The food. I never got to like any of the German, or more precisely WUDC German, food.
Ugly: Delays. The organizing committee emphasized “German Punctuality,” yet I never got to experience it at all. The tiresome delays (with no official schedules released for the days!) made the competition unbearable.

YJ: The best thing about WUDC 2013 was that it was held in Europe. Just by being there, it was all so romantic (Shame I was there with Sungryul and Gyumin and Kyoungwoong and Seunghun. Sigh.) Still, the beer was good and cheap. We drank it every night. Well, at least Sungryul did while I was asleep.

How was the ESL Semi-Final Round?

SR: We did mostly what we could. The motion was regarding feminism and we prepared the best we could. Having a strong opening on our side and a weak opening on the counterpart made it particularly hard for us to find a way into the debate. I could have done better but … knowing that we were simply not ready to be finalists, yet, well no regrets.

YJ: I didn’t really like the ESL Semi-Final Round, because it was a topic that I didn’t really have a comprehensive understanding of. The topic was surprisingly feminism! My teammate, who is a guy, had a better understanding, thank god.

I really liked the ESL Quarter-Final Round though. The motion was about university education, and we were advocating that college education is not just about employment, but intellectual curiosity. We truly believed in it, especially my nerdy teammate, and I guess our sincerity gave us unanimous first place in the round.

What were the best and the worst motions at WUDC? Tell us your stories!

SR

Best: I personally liked (or at least did not dislike) most of the motions … not that they were clear or so but mostly because they were authentic in many different means. Even the motion with 38 words (which was the round we were positioned as the 1st government when we had to cross the streets to locate the debating chamber) was not particularly bad since it gave both sides much space to maneuver.

Worst: The worst motion was the “THW only imprison individuals who pose a direct and continuing threat to society.” I really don’t like any motion regarding “SF.” In which world can we actually assess “directness” or the possible “continuity” of a particular criminality? We were closing opposition but still pitied the opening government for having the motion.

YJ: I generally liked all the motions, and felt that the CAP did a wonderful job. However, there was just this one motion in Round 5. Judging by the reactions on KIDA Facebook Page, I’m guessing that I’m not the only one who was surprised by the length of that motion. I was not only an OG in that round, but a PM. What’s more is that we had to cross a street and climb up five stories to get to our room. By the time we got there, we were exhausted, and we weren’t the only ones; all the debaters, as well as the adjudicators, were.

Debate with which team was unforgettable to you?

SR: Debating with Harvard A and Otago B/C was very much interesting for me. Yet the debate with Queen’s University A was the most memorable debate throughout WUDC; I personally consider the main strength of Yoonji and I as having strong cases for most of the motions. In the round with Queen’s University A as our opening, even though we had quite a strong case with abundant analyses, Queen’s took most of our substantive materials. It was an interesting experience that I have never had before.

What was your biggest lesson from this WUDC?

SR: The best part of this year’s WUDC for me was that since we were quite consistent in our performances, mostly getting seconds and avoiding landing on fourth except for one round, we got to constantly face the main breaking and ESL breaking teams. While doing so, I got to learn a lot more of the dynamics and mechanisms of BP as well as the game of debate itself. It’s really hard to describe in words but to simply try, as we strolled higher and higher it was all about clarity—including the vocabulary that you use—that mostly governed the debates. The analyses or logic that we possessed were not so different from the top teams. The discrepancy largely came from the execution of our thoughts and not by the quality of the thoughts themselves. I also got to realize that in order to succeed further in debate, at least for me, I should be reading and studying more “classics” from different fields of studies. The range of perspectives that some debaters possessed was striking. Such perspectives, unfortunately, were those that could not be acquired by reading The Economist or The Times.

YJ: The biggest lesson I learned from WUDC is that hard work pays off. Our team did try very hard this time (though we can’t say with pride that it was our best…) and we were satisfied with our results. Also, I saw all the good debaters from famous institutions with thick matter files and was ashamed of how thin mine was. I learned that I have to read more think more and debate more!

Who did you find the hottest at WUDC?

SR: Too many debaters and too few that I remember the name. Yet I do remember a name.  Kaya? from Queen’s University A who took all our substantives was hot as hell on the podium (but not so much after the debate was over).

Who did you think was the most inspiring speaker at WUDC?

SR: Throughout the debate rounds, the speakers that I was impressed were the two gentlemen from Harvard A (Coulter and Josh), a rather big guy from Otago B (John), and, again, the Queen’s University (Kaya) lady. The Harvard guys used impeccable vocabularies to stress their points (thank you, I grabbed my Word Smart again), John made me try humor, and Kaya genuinely made me ponder how to make my speeches much more concise (you can successfully carry out an entire argumentation even starting as late as 6:20!).

YJ: The most inspiring speaker for me was and still is my teammate, Sungryul oppa. He’s the one that taught me the difference between an argument and an assertion, and he’s the one that taught me to avoid absolutism. In fact, he’s not just an inspiring speaker for me, but he’s an inspiration for me in all aspects! He’s my mentor, and I truly appreciate him J (Yes I am getting the goose bumps as well but when else would I say this?)

Anybody you wish to thank?

SR

It’s a little embarrassing to thank a lot of people with such a little accomplishment. But following my personal philosophy to always thank much for those that I receive, here it is.

Of course, Yoonji Annie Ko comes first. I first thank her for surviving through the 11 rounds of debating with a very cranky teammate. But more importantly, I wish to deeply respect her dedication prior to WUDC; her true devotion into this endeavor for many weeks made our little, but for us larger than real, accomplishment come true.

Young Cho Lee is the name that also comes into my mind. I had some troubles with debating itself for many weeks before WUDC. Right after NEAO, I was skeptical about my abilities in debating since it has been almost a year after entering into the debate scene and yet I had accomplished nothing. Her advice to “keep calm and carry on” was a lot of help in remaining steadfast to practice hard for WUDC. I owe her many thanks.

Jiyoon Han I would also like to thank. Having been a “newbie,” I dared to challenge WUDC last year. I now understand her pains and dilemmas that she would have had in being a team with me. Ever since, I always wanted to be as good a debater as she is. Cannot thank her more for all her help throughout my year of debating.

Seth Kang is the debater that I learned a lot throughout WUDC. His level of sophistication in most of the fields/motions made me humble. It was a great pleasure to listen to all the necessary advices that I longed in terms of not only debate but also life.

Finally, I would like to thank all the companions of WUDC for supporting us. Of course, UU kids, you guys are the best (Thanks Gyumin for adjudicating for us.)

YJ: I wish to thank my teammate for putting up with me for two weeks (including our trip in Europe). I know it is an energy-consuming job, and I must say, he has done a tremendous job. I also thank Kyoungwoong and Seunghun, who came to all the rounds to watch us and support us. Most importantly, I thank Gyumin oppa for coming with us as an adjudicator.

I love you UU ♥

Any word for Korea Debaters?

SR: I believe that I am not in the position to advice anything about debating, yet (yes, the focus is on the word “yet”). All I can say is, well, “keep calm and carry on.”

YJ: I hope a lot of Korean teams participate in WUDC 2014 which will be held in India!!!!!! It will be fun, I promise, and by that time, I will be more tolerable. 

END.