After another successful quiz bowl season, in which the Venomous Agendas (VAs) finished 8th at the HSNCT (High School National Championship Tournament), Anna's family moves out of the parish during the 2027 summer because one of the parents obtained a different job in the parish the VAs always called the neighboring parish. Which is actually north, in the middle of Southwest Louisiana countryside. Allen Parish to be exact.
After everything I heard about Kinder, the school we Venomous Agendas called the "neighboring parish" despite the VAs' parish bordering 7 other parishes, with I-10 going through it, and without specifying in which direction, I'm more than a little nervous. Oh wait, I'll no longer be a VA in a few days' time! It's going to be rough, I don't think I'll have the same kind of friends as I used to. As a VA, smart kids, especially the top players on academic teams, were well-liked. Here? Anna keeps thinking while going to the new campus a few days before classes start. Right before she sets foot on campus:
"I'm nervous..." Anna tells her mother after they park the family car.
"So much will change here compared to your old life at school" her mother tells her while the pair walks through the building, so they know where everything is.
This world I left behind... so many would envy it. There's no telling at this point in what ways attending this place differs from being a VA, Anna keeps thinking while she decides to keep her questions for a different time.
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When her first day of classes begins at Kinder, Anna raises her hand and then asks a question of the social studies teacher:
"Could you please tell us your name?" the social studies teacher asks Anna.
"Anna. My question is: will we have debates in class?"
"Yes. What debates we will have in class will be on topics given to you one or two sessions in advance. And these will count towards your participation points" the teacher announces to them in class.
The other students start gossiping on Anna's back. "Anna is the new girl, but she carries herself like she is super smart" one of the Majors students (i.e., Kinder's) whispers to another.
"Please! Please! This winter the primaries for the 2028 elections will begin. But before then, we must cover some essential concepts so that, when the primaries begin, we will be in a better position to understand what's happening" the teacher warns the class of students oblivious to the material because they can't vote in said primaries at all.
They will know about my intellect sooner or later, even if I do nothing to stand out, Anna comes to this grim realization. Or more specifically, even if made no more academic effort than I used to as a VA and kept mostly quiet in class. I say mostly because teachers will always, at one point or another, ask questions to the class. The teacher then starts with the very basics of the electoral system, and what it means to the various offices that are elected simultaneously.
After the first round of lecturing on the electoral system ends, the teacher then asks questions to the class. When the students originally called upon to answer them fail to answer, it falls on Anna to step up to the plate...
"Personally, I believe that voters often care about only a narrow subset of issues, but if candidates are too similar in what matters most to them, people might not be that interested in getting involved" Anna responds, before getting an eraser thrown at her back.
"Ha ha! What a lame nerd!" Marjorine smirks after throwing the eraser on Anna's back, later realizing that she's getting into trouble.
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"Stop, stop! Just because Anna is more advanced doesn't mean you should throw things at her! Please stay here while I go to the principal's office with Marjorine..." the teacher warns the rest of the class.
That's the honors track at this school? At my old school, the troublemakers were, more often than not, in the regular track. I know where this is going: I will be the freaky genius here, Anna keeps reflecting on how that school differed from the VAs'. At the end of the class...
"I have some questions: first about quiz bowl: who coaches the quiz bowl team?" Anna asks the social studies teacher.
"Quiz bowl? Our biology teacher. Our quiz bowl team has been struggling for years, with players whose parents made them play so they could have something intellectual to show for college applications. Same goes with debate apparently, and I coach the debate team. Anyone is welcome to play on either one, your light will shine brightly here on both teams. Here are the meeting times of both"
It's not the first time that I was told to try debating. As far back as sophomore year. I may as well try... The teams may be open-entry, but I want to see who else I will be playing with before I can attempt to befriend the other players. Because I have the feeling that it's the only place, outside of calculus class, where I can be myself in this school, Anna muses, while flashbacks of the debate fundraising show in junior year, as well as of that karaoke night in sophomore year, resurface in her mind.
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When the first meeting of the speech and debate team begins, before they hold a practice round of the events they plan on playing, the players introduce themselves. There are three players and only one played last year.
"I am Oscar, a senior doing humorous interp (HI). I am the captain of the team"
"Anna, I am a senior doing Lincoln-Douglas"
"Roger, a freshman, also doing Lincoln-Douglas (LD)"
"Before we discuss the roadmap for the rest of the season, we would like to have a diagnostic round" the debate coach tells the trio.
"Is this a joke?" Oscar asks.
"Oscar, you have new teammates. I think they would like to know what kind of comedian you are. In turn, since you are going to spend the whole season with them, you may as well get used to them discuss topics they can't otherwise. It goes without saying that you shouldn't make fun of your teammates, not even for the arguments they run. Before we do a diagnostic round, let's discuss the basics of Lincoln-Douglas"
I already know about values, value criteria (VCs), speaking time distribution and the kind of arguments we're expected to run. On the other hand, Roger might not, Anna thinks, upon realizing that she will spend a lot of time with him and not just with debating.
In previous years, our school suffered from high player turnover, and some years we did policy and/or public forum, on top of LD. Because people don't exactly want to debate, it's too nerdy to them, blah, blah, blah, we're forced to stick to either speech or LD this season, the coach keeps to himself while he gets ready to toss the coin for determining who argues which side for the diagnostic LD round.
Once the diagnostic LD round ends, the LD players watches Oscar perform his 10-minute new piece for the season, during which they both burst in laughter several times, along with the coach. At the end of this sketch, he makes a decision that he feels could help the players feel valued.
"This year, we have enough money to attend six tournaments outside of the state championships. You will be entitled to two picks each" the coach announces to them.
Anna checks on the Louisiana Quiz Bowl Association's website for the schedule of quiz bowl tournaments for this season, knowing that it will determine which Saturdays are blocked off. She then confers with Oscar about which tournaments they want to enter this season:
"What about we split Duke, Columbia and Stanford between ourselves?" Anna suggests him.
"Is this a joke?" Oscar asks Anna.
"They're online tournaments. Way cheaper than in-person ones" Anna answers.
"You're good, but are you sure we can hack it at these tournaments?" Oscar asks another question.
"You? Absolutely. But Roger needs to start somewhere. He's a novice so he should enter accordingly. And me too, for Duke"
"Are these pesky Venomous Agendas going to play in these tournaments?" Roger asks the other two players.
To that, even Anna draws a blank. Note to myself: never bring up my past as a Venomous Agenda on-campus, until confronted.
"Yeah, let's stick it to these Venomous Agendas! Duke, Isidore Newman for me!" Oscar announces his selections after turning to the team's coach.
"Columbia and Stanford for me. They are online tournaments, as is Duke, so maybe we can attend a seventh tournament if we saved enough in travel costs from these three online tournaments..." Anna makes her choices.
"No, I'd rather put that money into the Nationals fund" the coach tells them about the savings.
The final 2 tournaments on the Majors' speech and debate (S&D) schedule end up being local in-person tournaments.