Jesuit Schools’ Debating Carnival

On the afternoon of Sunday 30 June, Sienna Ganter (11CAMA), Justin Lin (10MCMS), Simon Adi-Purnomo (10AAAM), Joshua Buckley (10XEJS), and I travelled to St Ignatius College Adelaide to compete at the 19th Annual Australian Jesuit Schools’ Debating Carnival at. This was a three-day competition held across from 30 June to 2 July, during which we debated against other Jesuit schools in Australia.

This year, Sienna and I took on the role of leading the team in our capacity as Vice Captains of Public Speaking and Debating. It was a great experience, especially seeing the three boys blossom and improve their skills so quickly – we felt proud.

Participating in this carnival helped us enhance our debating skills by learning different styles of debate. We worked hard and showed strong team spirit despite some illness hurdles - grateful for this amazing team collaboration.

Please see below, Justin Lin’s reflection on his experience after the competition:

This year, I was fortunate enough to be a part of Loyola College’s Jesuit Schools’ Debating team. During the 3 days of competition, we competed with other Jesuit schools, and developed a new understanding of their debating styles, while having great fun debating and getting to know new people. We had great fun enjoying at the city of Adelaide - it was VERY quiet there! We competed fiercely, but we the most precious thing of all was the experience, memories, and perspective we gained.

I would like congratulate Sienna who won the Spirit Medal for Loyola, and Simon who was also named a part of the Jesuit All-Star Team of the Tournament! Although we didn’t get the desired result this year, we still came out with some victories. Let’s strive to be even better next year!

On behalf of the team, I would like to thank Mr Martino for organising this amazing experience and Ms Brudy who came along and supported us along the way! Your mentorship helped us a lot.