Written by Katherine Xue

Hello everyone! As you all may know, our student leadership are a core part of our Potomac community; our four student coaches, nine team captains, and five brand ambassadors make up this year’s team of dedicated young leaders. As a new series, we’ll be featuring a member of our student leadership team every other week. 

First up: meet Sherry Lin! She’s a 17-year-old senior at Richard Montgomery High School, and a dedicated debater at Potomac Debate Academy (having been involved since elementary school). She had quite an early start, and when asked about why she began debate at such a young age, her answer might be relatable to many of our students. 

“My parents put me into it when I was really little because I talked too much when I was in the house, but I grew to love the activity because it gave me a warm community.” She encourages debaters to embrace that community aspect of tournaments too. “Talk to everyone! Debate tournaments are inherently very social events. You can become friends with your opponents regardless of the outcome of the round, and as you talk to more people and see them more and more at tournaments, you’re naturally going to become really good friends.”  

But debate doesn’t come easy all the time. One of Sherry’s most unforgettable debate moments happened at the Harvard Round Robin; “We cut the case the day before, and I didn’t know any of it,” she admits. Then, her partner “read the wrong side’s blocks for half the rebuttal, and we [had no idea] how to frontline it.” It’s moments like these that Sherry cites as being the most educational, teaching her adaptability that extends far beyond debate.

Outside of debate, Sherry volunteers at her local library, where she runs a few community programs for younger students. She’s also involved in the Montgomery County Sister Cities program and several debate nonprofits that work to expand access to public speaking opportunities. When she’s not organizing or debating, Sherry loves exploring new things —whether that’s cities or intriguing foods, reading, and hunting for fun snacks at Trader Joe’s.

Sherry’s biggest piece of advice for new debaters? “Be confident in yourself and what you’re saying — judges and people in general take you more seriously if you act like you know what you’re talking about. Also, make more friends.” At the end of the day, she returns to the community, which means the most to her: “The people I met on the circuit are some of the most kind and genuine people in my life.”

Sherry is one of the many invaluable members of the Potomac Debate community, and we’ll be spotlighting many more student leaders in future blogs. That’s all for this week—stay tuned for our upcoming highlights!