As senior Ishaan Home writes the day’s topic on the whiteboard, the debate room hangs heavy.
Heavy with the weight of the monstrous trophies that overflow from the shelf rungs to the counters. Heavier from the perplexed heads of novice debaters, lost in the lesson.
Three of the colossal trophies are Home’s, past triumphs at debate tournaments in Iowa and Topeka. Someday, he hopes the freshmen around him will bring home even larger awards. But for now, they’re still shaky and new to the hectic, research-based combat Home has grown to love obsessively over the past four years.
Home turns back toward the class — his class.
“What is the job of the 2AC [speaker]? It’s to answer the 1NC speech, and what?”
A small voice rises from a table in the corner. “To build up the original argument.”
“Exactly. Don’t let your opponent control the direction of the debate,” Home replies, gesturing his Expo marker in wild orbits as he projects his voice. “The 1AC speech is like your baby as a 2AC [speaker], because that’s you, right? You’re captain of the affirmative ship. So you need to keep extending the affirmative throughout the debate.”
As both novice debate cadet teacher and varsity debater, Home spends first and third hour back-to-back in the debate room; first prepping to compete at the top level, then passing on fundamentals to newcomers. In his final year, Home aims to win national tournaments while inspiring younger debaters to share his passion for the activity.
Before Home joined debate, before he could read speeches about indigenous land law at speeds north of 300 words per minute, he was just a middle schooler with an interest in foreign countries and environmentalism. He wrote petitions to reduce paper waste and essays in social studies class about the Partition of India, but he’d never had a judge declare his arguments right or wrong.
When Home joined debate at SM East, he found a space where he could expand on his political knowledge through competition. He learned how to write rebuttal speeches using minimal prep time. How to take notes on an opponent’s speeches in as few words as possible. And how winning felt after an intense two-hour round.
“Debate gave me this competitive feeling, which I thought was really cool,” Home said. “I like to win. I don’t always win, but I like to win.”
Not only could he conduct year-long research on topics such as the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance and fiscal distribution, but he could also discuss these topics within a community of non-stereotypical nerds, from cheerleaders to student journalists.
In his junior year, he was inspired by then-seniors Lucy Pace, Sophie Leonard and Jaxson Terreros — learning from the style of their delivery, casual mentorship of underclassmen and constant research.
Last summer, Home attended the same seven-week University of Michigan debate camp they did, spending more than 10 hours a day debating, researching and listening to lectures in Ann Arbor. And this fall, Home teaches a novice debate class, just like Pace and Leonard.
“He’s always been a strong debater, but he’s really stepped up tremendously as a leader of the squad for both the advanced kids and the novices,” debate teacher Trey Witt said. “He’s probably the strongest leader I’ve ever had.”
Between teaching, going to tournaments and reading upwards of 20 research papers a week, Home is spending over 30 hours a week on debate — nearing the commitment of a full-time job. Home and his new partner, junior Gray Snyder, are shooting for the top two tournaments this year — the Tournament of Champions and the National Speech and Debate finals, where Ishaan placed third last year.
In the twilight of his high school debate career, Home hopes to give everyone a chance to compete at a high level, whether it's through introductory lessons to novices or slideshows to advanced debaters.
“He’s absolutely amazing,” freshman and novice Andrew Waters said. “He’s really, really good at teaching debate because he’s so fresh in the mindset of what he’s talking about.”
Home recognizes that some are only in the class for the communications or honors credit. But for him, the massive time investment and insane argumental juggling that define competitive debate are exactly what make the activity so fulfilling.
“This isn’t an activity that’s all about research,” Home said. “It’s a place where you build connections, make friends, have fun, and talk about what you want to talk about. And you don’t have to be a certain type of person to do that.”
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