[eDebate] must-read NDT evidence

[Kevin Sanchez]

Kate Shuster. Winner of 1996 NDT. August 2001. (Keynote Address to the World 
Debate Institute, viewable here: http://debate.uvm.edu/watchevent.html. 
--unofficial transcript below.)

Know when to let go. I'll tell a personal story here... When I was in high 
school, and later college, I wanted to win the national debate championship 
more than anything else anyone has ever wanted in the history of world. It 
was beyond an unhealthy obsession, okay. Some people have an unhealthy 
obsession like 'Gee, I like to watch Ally McBeal'. No, no, no. This was way 
beyond obsession. I wanted this more than food. I wanted this more than 
creature comfort. I wanted this more than anything. I interviewed for 
college, and you know, I was talking to this lady who was the debate coach 
there, and she seemed like a nice woman, and we're talking, 'Kate, why do 
you why do you want to debate in college?' And I got this really unholy 
sorta devilish smile, 'I want to win the national title'. And she was just 
like, 'That's nice dear'. When you have an obsession like that it totally 
consumes you, and that's more or less what happened to me. And then, a few 
weeks before the national championship my senior year in college, I was 
driving back from a scimmage tournament with some good friends of mine, and 
we're in this car, and I'm just sorta thinking about it - this is the moment 
I've been waiting for all my life - thinking about it, and I was kinda 
depressed, and it occurred to me suddenly, and I said this out loud, I said 
'Guys, I just realized, it's not gonna happen'. And I did... and it sounds 
silly in retropsect, and whenever I tell this story, people are like 'Yeah, 
cry me a river lady', you know. But I had this realization, this sorta very 
profound 'Shoot, that's not gonna happen'. And I just sorta let it go. And I 
was like, 'Okay, at least I came to terms with that now'. But there is 
something very profound about letting go of the things that you desire, 
because desire is dangerous. It's good. It motivates us, but it's also very 
dangerous. It's very easy to get consumed by ambition. It's very easy. Don't 
let it happen to you. Have healthy ambitions. But you know, don't get all 
white kunckled about it, for God's sake. There are more beautiful things to 
enjoy in life that cutting cards in front of the T.V. at 4 in the morning. 
Trust me.

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{see also, Dan Shalmon's 'The Scars of Winning' 
(http://debate.uvm.edu/NFL/rostrumlib/ShalmonStudViewJan'00.pdf).}

___

my apologies for the deceptive subject-title. good luck to all concerned. 
play hard. have fun. stay loose.             .k (kevin.sanchez at gmail.com)