December 22, 2025
PDA November Tournament Debrief: Harvard & UCLA Results
By Sherry Lin This November, PDA students shifted their focus quickly, from the U.K. rejoining the European Union to the question of whether or not the U.S. federal government should require technology companies to provide lawful access to encrypted communications. Across early rounds, students wrestled with core tensions like economic growth versus crime crackdowns. These…
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December 11, 2025
Intramurals to External Tournaments: Making the Transition
By Sherry Lin Hi PDA fam! This is PDA student coach Sherry, and this week, as a follow-up to my previous blog “A Guide to Signing Up For External Tournaments”, I’ll be walking you through what it looks like to level up from PDA intramural tournaments to external tournaments! If you’ve been competing in PDA…
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December 9, 2025
Prep Time Mastery: Making the Most of Every Second
Written by Mahek Acharya Prep time is one of those things that separates good debaters from great ones. It’s not about how much time you have, it’s about what you do with it. You could have all the prep time in the world and still walk up to give a terrible speech, or you could…
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December 8, 2025
The Research Skills Debate Teaches You (That Google Can’t)
Written by Mahek Acharya Let’s be real: anyone can Google something. You type in a question, hit enter, and boom, millions of results in 0.01 seconds. However, here’s what most people don’t realize: knowing how to search isn’t the same as knowing how to research. That difference? It’s exactly what debate teaches you. When you…
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December 3, 2025
Student Leader Feature: Student Coach Aaron Tian
Written by Katherine Xue Hello everyone, and Happy belated Halloween! As the first quarter of school and September/October tournaments come to a close, we’re back with another Student Leader Feature to celebrate the amazing people who make up our Potomac Debate community. This week, meet Student Coach Aaron Tian—an enjoyer of volleyball, photography, and new…
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