Anushree (Anu) has been involved in debate for five years at Coppell High School. In that time, they have notably championed TFA State, the California Invitational Berkeley Tournament, University of Houston Cougar Classic, and University of North Texas Tournament. Anu is a returning member of Team Texas where they captained their team at the Harvard College World Schools Invitational, finishing in quarterfinals as fifth speaker. In speech, they placed fourth at the Duke Invitational, was a national finalist at the Coolidge Cup, and has been a two time TEDx speaker. When not debating with some of the loveliest people ever or writing for their school’s paper, you can find Anu drinking copious amounts of boba or taking walks. Anu is extremely excited to meet everyone at VBI and help them find their voices!

Brett is an incoming junior at UT Austin in the College of Liberal Arts and has aspirations of becoming an attorney. He is currently a consultant for his former high school and has privately coached many debaters. Brett started his debate career as a sophomore in high school and is currently aiding in the development of a parliamentary debate team at his University. He has achieved success at a wide array of tournaments, reaching deep outrounds at NSDA Nationals, TFA State, Malaysian International World Schools Debating Championships (MIWSDC), Eurasian Schools Debating Championships (ESDC), and the Winston Churchill Classic. Beyond this success, Brett 4th spoke NSDA Nationals in 2022 and 2nd spoke MIWSDC. Outside of debate Brett enjoys watching movies, skiing, and rooting for his Texas Longhorns.

Emily Hu competed in World Schools Debate at Greenhill School for four years. She is individually ranked 3rd in Worlds by NSDA, and she is a 4x qualifier for TFA State and NSDA Nationals. She placed 3rd at TFA State, was a two-time octafinalist at NSDA Nationals, and reached finals at UT. Locally, she has reached elimination rounds at many tournaments – quarterfinaling Greenhill and Harvard Westlake and championing Grapevine, Jesuit, and Coppell twice. She's excited to work at VBI this summer!

Natalie has been engaged in speech and debate for ten years, specifically World Schools Debate for six years. She's competed at NSDA Nationals for the last seven years, placing in the top 10 of teams the last two years. Natalie's currently ranked number 1 nationally for Worlds. Natalie's taught debate in two different institutions, DUDA and Greenhill Summer on the Hill, over the course of four years. She'll be going to the University of Chicago as a part of the class of 2028. Natalie is also super excited to help instruct at VBI this summer!

Nicholas Aranda is currently an instructor and debate coach at Colorado Academy in Denver, where he teaches Honors courses on US history, military history, security studies, and foreign policy. He has extensive experience as a debate coach, including his role as a member of the Greenhill coaching staff, coaching the 2022 Texas State Champions in World Schools Debate, 2022 NDCA WSD National Champions, and the 2023 NSDA national semi-finalists. In 2021, Aranda was recognized with the Volunteer of the Year award by the Denver Urban Debate League. Similarly, Aranda has been a presenter and official at numerous debate conferences and has also taught at debate initiatives around the world, including workshops and seminars at An-Najah National Palestinian University, the Stanford National Forensics Institute, Baylor University, Harvard University, & the Global Debate Symposium. Aranda holds dual undergraduate degrees in Philosophy and Peace Studies from Regis University and an MA from the A.Q. Miller School of Media, Communication, & Journalism at Kansas State University. Aranda has written works and presented at National and International academic conferences on topics related to Argumentation and Debate, Race, Gender, Conflict, Political Philosophy, & Affect Theory.

Ollie Braden is a freshman at Princeton University and is planning to major in philosophy. They were a member of Team USA in the 2022 academic year, and were incredibly honored to be part of the team that championed WSDC Vietnam in 2023. They are now a member of the Princeton Debate Panel, competing primarily in BP, which has been a lot of fun. They’re very excited to help out this year!

Sahith is an incoming sophomore at UT Austin in the McCombs school of Business and the College of Liberal Arts on a pre-law track. Sahith has coached at the World of Words Institute, consulted for Team Texas, and privately coached debaters across the country. Sahith’s been involved in debate since his freshman year of high school as a founding member of Coppell WSD and is a founder of the UT Austin Parliamentary Debate team. He’s achieved success at numerous tournaments reaching deep outrounds at the NSDA Tournament, The Blake Tournament, the Kandi King Round Robin, and The Croatian Invitational Winter Holiday Open (W.H.O.). Sahith championed TFA State, The UC Berkeley Invitational, and the Longhorn Classic. Sahith top spoke TFA state, 3rd spoke UT Austin, and 8th Spoke W.H.O. Outside of debate you can find him reading a new novel, watching a marvelous movie, and indulging in fantastic food – as well as over applying alliteration.