Dear friends,
Come along for a little story time.
I'll be honest: I was not a great debater. I lost plenty of rounds. I stuttered through A LOT of speeches. But I lugged those giant tubs of evidence (IYKYK) around tournaments like a badge of honor, because for the first time in a long time, I felt like I was part of something bigger, something that really mattered. Thanks to debate, I belonged somewhere.
Debate became my home. It challenged me in ways school couldn't, way beyond academics. It gave me words for things I'd lived through but couldn't name yet, and it taught me to hold my values deeply while staying open to being wrong (still working on this one though, lol). My coaches invested in me as a whole person. They saw me for all I was and believed in me when I barely believed in myself. During my senior year, when things at home were especially hard, my then-coach and some of the staff at the Boston Debate League stepped into roles in my life that felt a lot like a parent's. That community became my safe space. I don't say this lightly: debate kept me alive.
Twenty years in, the Boston Debate League is still doing for students what it did for me, and I'm lucky enough to now work here and see it happen up close. There are kids sitting in the front row right now, not talking to anybody, waiting to find their own village of nerds. Please help make sure that when they walk into their first debate practice, the BDL can be there for them like they were for me. Any amount you can give means SO MUCH to me, and even more to them.
TLDR: donate if you were once (or still are) a freaking NERD who wants to empower other nerds to use their voices!!!! If you're my friend, I know this label applies to you.
