Brown Motion

Our child happens to research and write on a variety of subjects of her choosing to participate in speech and debate competitions as part of her curriculum in school. This weekend as with a few in the past was dedicated to her spending time preparing and presenting through a series of elimination rounds to seek the ultimate endorsement from a panel of judges. She did (we think) extremely well, at different venues with a first place win at a renowned national event, more so being an underdog in terms of her naivety to this whole exercise of debating with seasoned students that were coached at fancy academies dedicated to this ancient art form. The other side of this coin is the parent involvement or lack thereof.   As parents we merely provide guidance where she seeks it otherwise relying on her own initiative and drive to engage and pursue this field.  But the contests place an extra burden on students' parents where we are also asked to judge some of the events. As n...