It’s that time of year again, when your friends from Mr. Swensen’s 7^th hour class disappear every weekend and spend the rest of the week tired, ornery, and very argumentative.   You may begin to wonder why on earth they like to do something that makes them seem so miserable, and what really happens on those weekends that they rave about.  To give you an idea of what makes Speech and Debate meets that worth it, I will tell you about the most anticipated meet of the year, held at Westlake High School.  

The Kiefer Memorial meet was created in memory of a former debater on the Westlake debate team who was killed in a car crash.  The idea they try to spread at the tournament is that of having fun and make friendships among the schools.  Highly competitive, with events that no other meet hosts, it is easily rated the most fun meet of the year.  Along with the regular speech and debate events, such as Congress, Policy, Impromptu, and Oratory, they have come up with crazy new things, like News casting, Radio DJ, Storytelling, and Dinner Table Speaking.  

When not performing, students are often found playing intense card games, sleeping, studying, painting Swensen’s nails, and generally goofing around.  At the end of the meet Westlake hosts a big dance for all the participating schools, about 50 from all over Utah.  Winning students get dog tags and top teams are awarded with longboards.

At the end of the two-day tournament Juab always returns tired, full of junk food, and with a fair share of dog tags.  It’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it for the trophies and the crazy fun weekends.