Laith Shakir was the champion of the 2013 NFL Nationals tournament in Lincoln-Douglas debate. He graduated from Leland High School in San Jose, CA and will be attending American University in the fall.
How did you become involved in high school forensics?
My love affair with forensics started in the 7thgrade, when I got first in impromptu at the Burnett Middle School tournament.It wasn’t until my freshman year that I tried my hand at debate, although Istarted with Public Forum. I actually joined LD my sophomore year, after my PFpartner quit debate: in retrospect, I’m very happy with the way things workedout.
What were your expectations coming into NFL Nationals?Did you expect to walk out as a national champion?
I was telling one of my teammates at the beginning of thetournament that I would be happy if I made it to Round 10: I was definitely notexpecting to debate on the stage! Winning Nationals has always been theultimate goal in my debate career: something to set as my focus and toconstantly strive for. Actually achieving it is absolutely surreal.
As you conclude your high school forensics career, whatadvice would you give to younger students who have dreams of being on the NFLNationals stage?
Your performance is a direct result of the amount of workyou put in. Spending the time learning each resolution inside and out is whatsets great debaters apart from everyone else. Also, practice practice practice!Speaking drills, rebuttal redos, and mock rounds will all be absolutelyinstrumental to your success.
As far as doing well at Nationals itself, the key is your attitude. It’s easyto get discouraged by how long the tournament is, but the important thing is tojust focus on each round and give them each your all.
What is your favorite memory from high school forensics?What will you miss the most?
My favorite memory has got to be competing at the Berkeleytournament this year. The combination of both great people and delicious foodmade for an unforgettable last invitational.
I’m going to miss my teammates above all else. Debating forLeland High School means having a huge, supportive team that always sticktogether, and it’s this support system that I’ll feel lost without. I hope tokeep in touch with all of my teammates, but nothing forges strong bonds quitelike debate does!
You are the 4th member of your family to be in finals ofNFL Nationals. Tell us more about that. What events did they compete in? Didthey give you any advice before going into finals?
My family is definitely diverse when it comes to ourexperiences at NFL Nationals. My oldest brother, Omar Shakir, finaled in Senateat NFL Nationals. My sister, Deena Shakir, finaled in Expository. Zade Shakir,my older brother, finaled in HI.
Having three incredibly successful older siblings has beenboth a bane and a boon. The most obvious problem is the incredible pressurethat is inherent with being the youngest: even if they aren’t conscientiouslyexpressed, the expectations are enormous. On that point, however, both my parents and siblings have beenincredibly supportive of me and I would not have done nearly as well as I haveif it wasn’t for them. I’ll always remember the barrage of phone calls after Ihad found out I won the semifinals round: from speaking tips on stage toline-by-line strategy, my siblings were eager to help me out before the finalround.
What does the future hold for our 2013 NFL LD champion?
I’ll be attending American University in the fall. I’mmajoring in International Studies, with a possible minor in Arab Studies. Ihope to stay involved with the debate community through teaching at camps thissummer (such as VBI and SNFI), as well as judging next season. So if you see me around at invitationals nextyear, come say hi!
Any additional shout out's or thank you's that you wouldlike to throw online for those who may not have heard your thank you speechduring finals?
I’d like to again thank Gay Brasher, Leland’s head coach,for running an absolutely amazing Speech and Debate program. I’d also like tothank Chris Wardner, Leland’s LD coach, for always believing in me, even when Ididn’t. Thank you to Victor Jih for going out of his way to help prep me forNationals. Thank you to Tom Meagher, Leland’s Policy coach, and Julian Crown,Leland’s Public Forum Coach, for taking the time away from their events to giveme feedback. My run at Nationals would not have been possible without such anawesome coaching staff!
There are definitely some shout outs in order. First, shoutout to my teammate Priya Diwakar for placing in the top forty LD debaters as ajunior: I’m really excited to see her do even better next year. Also, shout outto the Leland policy teams of Sunny Advani/Rohan Varma, and Gary Lin/ShreyasKamat for being in the top six teams in the nation. You guys are amazing.