Gene C McCombs Memorial Scholarship

When I arrived at high school, I wanted to join the debate club but found out it didn’t exist, so I decided to start one. For a month, my eagerness to debate was frustrated by the need to organize, advertise, secure signatures, and persuade (similar to debate, at least) school faculty. After gaining enough support, the team was officially chartered. Most debate programs dedicate classes and coaches, but my school couldn't allocate funds without a "proven and sustained demand". This meant I’d have to coach/lead myself. We’re now a fully functioning team that competes regularly. The school plans to establish a debate class next year, fulfilling my goal of continuing educational discourse for students after my graduation. Initially, my passion was solely for discourse, and I’m proud of my and my teammates’ medals, but organizing taught me critical networking and leadership skills and the importance of actively advocating for myself and others. Debate changed the way I learn and think. Preparing for tournaments pushed me to question assumptions, analyze complex issues, and communicate clearly under pressure. When I placed at region and state debating the morality of generative AI, I realized that in addition to being about competition, debate is a way to explore difficult questions about technology, ethics, and society. It also taught me how to truly listen, understanding opposing perspectives before responding, and how respectful disagreement can lead to deeper understanding rather than division. This experience made my high school years feel active and meaningful, and gave me confidence in my ability to speak, listen, and lead. Leading the team also showed me the value of helping others find their voice. Coaching new members, watching them grow more confident, and seeing them succeed at competitions was as rewarding as competing myself. In fact, during my senior year, there were times when I forfeited my own opportunity to compete so I could stay and coach my teammates, because their growth mattered more to me than individual results. Debate became a community built on curiosity, discipline, and mutual respect. It taught me resilience, patience, and how to stay composed under pressure, which are skills that will extend beyond competition. In college, I plan to continue debating by joining campus debate organizations, competing in tournaments, and engaging in research and discussions that challenge my thinking. I hope to keep improving my communication and leadership skills while contributing to thoughtful, respectful discourse on complex global issues. Debate has shaped who I am, and I intend to carry these lessons forward, using dialogue, critical thinking, and open-mindedness to learn, grow, and make a meaningful impact in the world.

I've been a fighter all my life, my earliest example being when my few day old self ripped out my own feeding tube in NICU so I could do it myself. My stubbornness is one of my most beloved traits, a trait passed down to me from my mother who got it from her grandmother. While I'm stubborn, I'm also a rule follower, to a point. If a rule makes sense, I'll follow it to a T, and be confused on why others don't follow said rule. When it comes to nonsensical rules however, I will simply pretend they don't exist and fight the consequences. When a rule or law is nonsensical, such as the recently passed Trans Bathroom Bill here in Utah, like a rich man to income tax I will ignore it till it goes away or fight it. I took my first debate class in my freshman year of high school, and discovered my not so well hidden talent of debate. I found the act of debating someone and proving them wrong addicting, like a honey badger to a bee hive. This first class taught me not just my love for debate, but how to use my weapon of word correctly. I was surrounded by like-minded, and more excitedly, non like-minded people. I was finally starting to understand why people chose to damn themselves by becoming lobbyists. After the school year ended, I didn't take a debate class again until my junior year, but my desire to fight for what I believed in only grew. See, in the summer before my high school years, I came out as trans to my family and friends. It was quite nerve-wracking, which was not exactly helped by the increasingly hostile political climate towards people like me. But I could not disappoint my NICU bound self by kneeling to live, so I chose to die standing. My first instance of fighting for my freedom (and my proudest thus far) was attending a school board meeting with my mom for a young trans students right to use the restroom of their choice. The majority of people there were part of a group of parents who thought it would be a great use of their time to harass an elementary schooler and her parents. While I myself did not speak (much to my annoyance), we did appear on the news and later when Utah legislature were passing HB 257 (a bill that would bar trans people from using the bathroom of their choice) we were asked to be interviewed for our thoughts. Here I did speak, and appeared on the news for a second time! I used the time given to hound on the legislatures supporting this bill, and use the tools given to me by my aforementioned debate class to explain my perspective on the bill. Even two years later, it is still one of my proudest moments. My second debate class lasted the second half of my junior year. The first quarter consisted of lessons on speech and public speaking with the second on actual debate. Here I felt the same feeling I experienced in my first debate class, a thirst for blood. I found the skills and experience in this class invigorating, and still do. My magnum opus of the class being my argument on the death penalty and whether it should remain in use. All in all, debate has given me the tools and desire to fight for myself and those around me. If it weren't for debate, I am certain I would not be where I am today