Debating rising star
Perth’s Carmel’s Year 10 student, Aviya Solomon has made it through to the first round of candidates selected for the Western Australian Debating League (WADL) State Team.
Aviya Solomons
The group of 13 students will train together over the coming five weeks, each hoping to be selected as a part of the final team that will compete in the nationals next term.
Aviya was a part of the Carmel team who won the WADL Junior Championship last year and she was named the best speaker of the grand final debate of this series. Following on from this success, Aviya submitted an application to be considered for the State squad and completed a day’s worth of intensive adjudicated debating, including senior impromptu debates, competing against 50 other students to be selected for the squad.
Aviya has been passionate about debating for as long as she can remember. Seeing her siblings as a part of the Carmel debate teams increased her levels of interest in the sport and she started debating from Year 7. “I love debating because I really like public speaking and I am passionate about forming and delivering strong, reasoned arguments. My favourite position is the third speaker, and I especially like being the third speaker for the negative as I get to round out the debate,” she said.
There are many debate topics that Aviya finds interesting and while it is hard to narrow it down to a favourite, she really loves topics that address politics and the law. She is enjoying the intense training offered to the squad of 13, which includes working on senior impromptu debates and workshops that cover how to structure arguments, how to best use your preparation time and how to apply the skills you learn. Aviya was the only student from Carmel who tried out for the national team and she is the second-youngest student selected for the squad, with most of her peers being in Year 11 or 12.
Mrs Bagnara, Head of English and coordinator of the Carmel Debating team said: “We are so proud that she put herself forward for this competition and was successful following the gruelling selection process competing against many older students. She is an extremely impressive young lady and very deserving of selection.”
Aviya’s hard work in the squad training sessions has paid off, as she was selected as one of the team of six which debated at an additional event run in conjunction with International Women’s Day. Aviya is also a part of the Carmel debate team this year.
