Exciting Times:

The last two weeks have rapidly come and gone.  I can hardly believe that there is less than a month of school left.  Yeah!!

On October 23rd, Sara and I decided to just have fun and send any thoughts of homework flying out the window.  After my Theology class, we headed on a lovely drive towards Harper's Ferry.  The drive to Harper's Ferry was simply gorgeous.  The trees were abundantly adorned in every color of fall.  The first place we visited at Harper's ferry was where Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia all intersect.  We visited Jefferson's Rock and spent a fair amount of time climbing and exploring all around it.  Then we hiked on the Appalachian Trial for about 2 hours.  Even though we encountered many minor hills and it proved tiring, it was well worth it.  After we worked up an appetite, we stopped for lunch at a local restaurant.  The quesadillas we had were fabulous.  :)  Sara and I had a blast.  The weather was perfect.  There was an abundance of sunshine and the temperature was perfect for shorts and T-shirts.  The day was absolutely perfect!

October 27th: I had an evening Research & Writing class.  Right before class began, my debate partner informed me that we qualified for a regional tournament due to our success at our local campus tournament!  I was speechless!!!  The tournament began only two days after fall break ended!  On Thursday, November 6th, not only did I have to pack for the tournament, but we also had to clean for Grey Glove.  Only 8 teams from our campus were invited/qualified for this tournament at another law school.  This tournament was unlike other tournaments I attended throughout high school.  Our first round began at 9 a.m. on Friday.  I really enjoyed this tournament because we were always ahead of schedule!!  Breakfast, lunch and dinner were also provided only for the competitors.  Even though there were only 28 teams at this tournament, the teams were divided into 2 groups.  This split caused there to be long intervals between the rounds.  After our first round we had 4 hours before our next round.  There are only 3 prelim rounds with 3 judges each.  Our first round went well.  We were petitioner which is the equivalent of affirmative.  I enjoy Moot Court, because each person only has 1 speech with the exception of a 2-3 rebuttal for the Petitioner.  Our second round began at 2:45.  This time we were Respondent.  This round was extremely difficult.  Both of the speakers were seniors and were amazing.  You never know whether your judge panel will be a hot bench.  As soon as I began my speech I was continually thrown questions for the remaining 9 minutes.  I answered the questions well and so did my debate partner.  The judges told us that this was an extremely close round.  The time between our second and third round was 2 hours.  The third round is a coin flip.  We had won the flip and were Petitioner.  Once again we faced advanced seniors.  All the prelim rounds were completed by 6.  After the rounds were finished, a pizza dinner was provided.  During dinner, they announced which teams would be competing in the octo-finals the next day.  All our teams advanced except my debate partner and I.  Even though I was momentarily disappointed, the peace of God filled my heart and gave me peace.
Saturday rounds did not begin until 9:30 which allowed extra sleeping.  :)  I had great pleasure in watching the rounds of our school and taking meticulous notes.  When it came time for the semi-finals, the only teams which qualified were teams from our school and they were all freshmen!!  :)  At the law school we were competing at, they had a replica of the Supreme Court in which the final round was held.  

Awesome!! Right?

Needless to say, our school won the tournament and 1st & 2nd speaker!!!!

On the ride back to campus at a late 9 p.m. my debate partner and I finally had the chance to review our ballots.  In our first round we won every single ballot.  :)  Looking through our ballots and pondering our coach's words, we just missed competing on Saturday by 1 ballot. :( grrr............

Despite this disheartening loss, I am extremely proud of our whole campus and how well my debate partner and I did.  

Besides the tournament and our visit to Harper's Ferry, life has been going well.  This week a significant portion of my time has been devoted to writing papers.  We turned in a Theology paper yesterday and have a 10 page Western Civilization research paper due on Monday.  For our Theology paper we had to reflect on whether A.W. Tozer is a mystic after reading his book, The Knowledge of the Holy.  I really enjoyed this book.  If you haven't read it, I would definitely suggest it.