Losing valiantly

I have always looked at debating in a “Naruto” perspective, wherein the underdog often gets the upperhand. Here’s how the Naruto perspective affected me in several tourneys.
NDC
Our team ranked the 5th lowest. Wow. I don’t really know what to say about that. To think that I had my hopes up of breaking, well, not really breaking, I just had my hopes up of making an image. The experience in Baguio was fine, save that little incident we had with GC Suzy. But along with Baguio’s cold condition came that frozen feeling of being stuck in a place where you can’t really make a name out of yourself, not for your teammate, not for your Debate Society, not for your University. I guess I just wasted money, time and destroyed an unstained reputation meter I had with some people.
ANC
Siliman University vs. Lyceum of the Philippines University. My first time in TV. Great. But then again, the fact that we lost in Cable Television makes the premise of being in TV sound a lot less positive. We were all really enthusiastic at first. We had that warm blooded feeling that founded its roots on Lyceum’s victory in ANC against Ateneo de Davao with Ate Suzy and Kuya Barny. My family was also excited when they found out I was going to be on TV. Disappointment struck though. We were all constructive speakers and I didn’t have enough training to go along with JJ and Ryan’s level. No dynamism, No good case and our momentum to acheiving Debate Fame and Fortune just gradually decreased. In short, being Deputy Leader of the Opposition, I screwed it up. BIG TIME. Want proof? Type ANC Octofinals in Youtube to find out. The only good thing about it is that my mom said that I looked like Gerald Santos in TV. On second thought, was that really a good thing?
PIDC
1-6, standing. There was a moment while sitting with Mila and Bryan in a table at UP Diliman when I thought of our losing streak. Sure, we lost our chance of breaking in the second day when Bryan woke up late for the 3rd round for the whole tournament which is also the first round of that day, but we had this notion in our minds that we have to win some for the team, again hopes were drawn from faulty ground and we still ended up with nothing to compensate for our preps and team spirit. We were the lowest seeding team of the Lyceum Contingent. Compensation? I get to diss Bryan in my speeches and use the word “churva” in an actual debate.
It was a myriad of different emotions intertwining with each other. With each second that passed by after each heart wrenching loss, I came into grips with myself and reflected if everything that we went through was worth it.
Let’s set it straight. We were underdogs. I guess I had my head in the clouds for so long, I forgot about grounding my skills. My mind’s been programmed to percieve debating as something similar to the Naruto theme of being the underdog means being the loser at first and claiming it all at the end of the day. These losses were a big wake up call to me. Being an underdog isn’t followed by glorious victories and heroic welcomes. But then again……….
But I guess in losing there is something gained. One of Life’s timeless lessons is actually being taught to me. It is being taught to me in the most effective way possible: the hard way. I guess I was looking at Success in a shallow way, or maybe I’m losing my mind (chez). With every loss there is always gain.
In NDC, I guess I did badly but me and ate Enzy still pushed through by at least having one win over all other teams. We had fun too, meeting new people and being able to learn new things from other debaters. Baguio was great, it was cold, we met new friends there and being in the hotel with a bunch of people I never knew that well, save Ate Tima, I definitely learned a few things about getting along. Considering that, I guess I have made a name for myself, though it’s not exactly the way I wanted it to be, but I have. People were able to know me better.
In ANC. Pressure, pressure, pressure. But then again, knowing that people just want to see you in TV makes me feel like I have already won. I screwed up, but I did the best I could do in that time. I knew I could do better, but in television, it’s all about the glamour. I saw make-up, a genuine make-up artist, a hairbrush, 4 cameras, tables that looked like it came from a sci fi flick and the show host who I think really appreciated me being wierd. It was a brand new experience for me and my family. I said to myself: “Damn. We Lost. But at least I was on TV! In ya face!”
PIDC was really wierd. We won our first round against PUP A, the politics and economics division. We lost to UPD B (duh?!?). But at the end of that day, we never really dwelt on our loss, rather we dwelt on what our adjudicator, Sharmila, said to us. We actually had a case! What’s more, we clashed! It was shallow, sure, but we were actually going against giants, but we also threw punches despite what little punch we had. You could say that we were really looking forward to the third round with new founded zeal. The following day Bryan didn’t show up in time. He got so late, ate glad had to replace him thereby forfeiting our chance of breaking to the octofinals. We got really mad at Bryan at first, but that faded after a speech form Ryan. During that day we were in our all time low and we weren’t really in the mood to debate. We lost the following rounds too in the thrid day. But in that moment of darkness shone the light of reason. We actually developed structure and dynamism. Also, UPD was a very huge place, with lots of trees and stuff, a lot like baguio, except much hotter. We met a few people, had some laughs in the ending rounds and again, I was actaully able to use the word: : “CHURVA”.
So maybe I have not surpassed anyone yet, nor have I proven to be a grave threat to anyone in the roster of debating giants. So what? I got to fight and get over my worst enemy: Shallow thinking and an overwhelming amount of ego, something that most people may have trouble getting over. I may have lost the battle, but not the war. I live, I lose, I cry, I learn. To quote:
“You will fail many times, but in falling, you will learn, and in learning, you will find your way. Remember, there are no mistakes in life -only lessons. And lessons will keep REPEATING THEMSELVES until LEARNED.”
So what’s wrong with looking at things in the Naruto perspective? I am an underdog, but in the end, I’m the greatest debater ever!