Get to Know LADI Instructor Alex Zhao
La Canada’s Alex Zhao recently won the Blake Invitational, the second quarterfinals bid tournament he has won (in addition to Voices in 2015). Alex will be working at the San Jose Debate Intensive this summer. Hear what he has to say about his recent Blake win, his thoughts on the new Jan-Feb topic, and working at SJDI in the following interview!
1. YOU RECENTLY WON BLAKE, WHAT WAS YOUR MOST DIFFICULT DEBATE IN THE TOURNAMENT? WHAT STRATEGIC DECISIONS DID YOU MAKE THAT PAID OFF?
My most difficult round was likely finals against TJ Foley, from Valley. I was affirmative and he read topicality, a contractarianism NC, and case turns. In the end, I managed to win why the case outweighed through some impact comparison and explanation of aff solvency.
2. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE AFF POSITION YOU READ AT THE TOURNAMENT? WHAT DO YOU THINK WAS STRATEGIC ABOUT IT?
Throughout the tournament, I read an aff that prevented colleges from restricting free speech to zones on campus and had a neoliberalism impact. The position was strategic because it was very flexible in answering both disadvantages and kritiks because neoliberalism can be weighed against various neg impacts and can be used to turn both the capitalism K impact and the hate speech disadvantage’s impact.
3. WHAT MISTAKES DID YOU MAKE IN YOUR DEBATES, IF ANY? WHAT WOULD YOU DO TO CORRECT THEM?
In round 5 of the preliminary rounds, I lost a debate while going for topicality. I got too caught up in the line-by-line, something easy for the 2NR since the neg has so much time in that speech, and I forgot to summarize the debate and give an overview explaining the argument as a whole and why it outweighs. Next time, I would try to take a step back to think about how each argument interacted, which I remembered to do in the rest of my Blake debates, which paid off.
4. WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO DEBATERS LOOKING TO WIN OR BID AT THE REMAINING TOURNAMENTS THIS YEAR?
I would say that doing your own research on the topic and working your hardest to understand arguments on free speech will be very important, especially on a relatively technical and legal topic such as the current one. Although resources like videos online, LADI’s packet, and the wiki are nice resources, newer debaters should still work on cutting their own research and cultivating a style to be as successful as possible.
5. WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO MOST ABOUT TEACHING AT SJDI?
I’m looking forward to the personalized learning. At SJDI, the students can get a lot of attention on what they want to learn about. Last summer, I learned a lot at LADI’s camp, and I hope to replicate the same quality instruction for my students.
6. HOW WOULD YOU SAY STUDENTS CAN GET THE MOST OUT OF THEIR CAMP EXPERIENCE?
I’d tell them to take advantage of the diverse and talented staff and get personalized attention. Especially since SJDI is pretty flexible in terms of curriculum, students can ask to drill on whatever interests them and what goals they have for the coming season, so that they can start the next season with a solid skill set.
7. WHAT IS YOUR FUNNIEST DEBATE RELATED MEMORY?
Whenever I debate Jonas LeBarillec.