Ithaca, NY
Pierce Pramuka ’20 won the Most Valuable Debater Award at the Cornell International Summer Debate competition last week. The competition was a culmination of a week’s worth of intense debate training hosted by Cornell University—home to one of the world’s top collegiate speech and debate programs.
For this Minnesota-born sophomore—and 130 of his peers from around the globe—it was an opportunity to advance his argumentative, debating, and public speaking skills. For an entire week, the aspiring debaters were instructed by Cornell’s staff coaches who teamed up with internationally renowned debate trainers, delivering an unforgettable experience.
“Ms. Ruberg, my history teacher and Model UN coach at Storm King, introduced the Cornell program to me back in November. When I asked my parents if I could go, my dad said, ‘First you have to get accepted,’ and my mother added, ‘Then you’ll need a job or scholarship to pay for it.’ I got in – and I got the scholarship! I was stoked and my parents were thrilled,” said Pierce.
Pierce Pramuka ’20 (front row, red sweatshirt) with his fellow Cornell Debate campers
“Each day consisted of lectures and workshops aimed at improving our debating skills. I was exposed to acting lessons, public speaking, and mock debate trials throughout the week. I met with some amazingly talented students there. My roommate was from Kuwait. I had a chance to compete against some of the top debaters in the country, if not the world.”
He added, “The faculty at Cornell was excellent. My favorite lectures tackled topics of voter disenfranchisement by Professor Michener and climate change by Professor Monger.”
Members of the 2017 Storm King School Model UN team: top row Coach Karen Ruberg, Alex Chang ’18, Naunet Leonhardes-Barboza ’20, Sera Gungor ’20, Assistant coach and humanities teacher Ms. Gallese, Jon Tetik ’18 front row: Jutta Appiah ’18, Pierce Pramuka ’20, Dimash Mukhamedi ’17, Eleven Zhang ’19
Pierce also recognized the benefits of taking a Storm King course that isn’t offered at most high schools; “Sign language came in handy last week,” said Pierce. “When I started at SKS as an 8th grader, we had to take a different foreign language class each trimester. After taking Spanish and Chinese the first two terms, I took American Sign Language in the spring of my 8th-grade year. I wondered whether I would ever use sign language again.” Two years later at the debate in Cornell, “one of the lectures given was by a professor who happened to be hearing impaired, and she used an interpreter to communicate with our group. I was the only student there who was able to sign with her and hold a brief conversation. I think I made a good impression,” said Pierce with a smile.
The biggest lesson Pierce learned at Cornell? “I felt confident going into the competition. Here at Storm King, we have a great Model UN team and we usually do quite well in contests against other schools. However, the competition at Cornell brought together some of the very best high school–aged debaters. These students, especially the older debaters, were almost flawless,” he said. “I held my own, but I certainly have a ways to go. I will get there.”