Nov 30, 2023 At 12:05 PM EDT
I was 4 years old when my older sister and I, consumed by our competitive spirits, ran every morning to the two discrete television sets; the winner would watch on the big screen while the loser watched on the little one. I often found myself carrying the second-place trophy, but I was content because even with a burning desire to win, my true value resided in being able to watch shows that opened my eyes to a world of adventure. From Johnny Test and Ben 10 to Full House and Spongebob—I lived life looking for adventure in everything.
Each morning as I entered the slightly corroded iron doors of my middle school, I was ceaselessly in search of the next adventure only to be told, "Stop being so playful...you have to be mature in the real world." My adventurous flame of vermilion—the shade of red that Chinese culture depicts as bringing great joy—would shrink; I felt constrained. My playful spirit was rebuked and my adventure was stolen from me by parents and teachers. Nonetheless, I embraced this new outlook with folded arms and a grin in hopes of someday lifting the burden of being "adultlike."
Because I approached high school with a mindset conformed to the directives of my authority figures, I pursued debate. I presumed the game would give me a look into a realm of standard, colorless academia and fulfill wishes that were not mine. The activity, however, strangely afforded me a colorful variation—one where I found excitement in the configuration of my diction and the thought that preceded it.
The debate space platformed me to explore a domain of bizarre ideas and engage them through meaningful discourse about the world around me. This liberal access reignited the vermillion flame of adventure within me.
Debate reoriented how I perceived my future endeavors by challenging my thinking with one question: How can I apply the concept of adventure to the most colorless concepts? Inspired by the thrill debate instilled in me, I now use my position as an open debater at New York University to help other debaters find adventure in their speeches.
As a future neurosurgeon and global health care reformist, I will use what debate taught me to explore new paradigms and challenge disarray within the health care system, both in and out of hospitals. As a student, a brother and an advocate within my community, I aim to afford those around me the same revelation debate afforded me—to not let someone else's skewed perspective about life influence how you live yours.
Now when I find myself holding the second-place trophy at the end of debates, I am reminded of my 4-year-old self, because while I am still engrossed in my ambition to win, I am beyond content. My value remains on the joy I find from being able to discover new arguments and a new orientation of thoughts and ideologies.
I am no longer the middle schooler who abandoned adventure, but a culmination of development, constantly looking for adventure in all of life's pursuits.
Emmanuel Makinde is a second-year undergraduate at New York University on a pre-medical track studying neuroscience. Drawing from his early debater career in the Washington Urban Debate League, Emmanuel is an active policy debater at NYU, where he has qualified for the National Debate Tournament. Aside from debating, Emmanuel currently works in a research lab at NYU's Center for Neural Science, where he studies memory formation in the brain.
