Northland Student Feature: Sarah Lanier

From Basketball to Physics, this girl has done it all. However, her favorite activity: debate. I interviewed Sarah to ask a few questions about her recent success in Speech and Debate. Her responses were inspiring. Mrs. Lanier was recently chosen to compete on the USA World’s debate team. This immense honor is something that has given her the ability to travel around the world with fellow debaters across the nation and compete. She stated, “I was motivated to start debate because my parents wanted me to do the activity.” She also says her least favorite part is the stress she feels constantly. Balancing academics, college admissions, and debate is not an easy task.

“My favourite part about worlds is getting to travel across the globe, experiencing different cultures.

Debate is preparing me for life because I am learning how to work with a team while simultaneously learning how to think fast on my own feet and formulate cohesive arguments.” Sarah enjoys many activities, but hearing her talk about the benefits of debate is a great inspiration to us all. As a piece of advice to any future team members, she says “I would tell a freshman team member that you get out of debate what you put in, the more you invest the better you do. if you want to be good, all you have to do is work hard and you can be great.” Many times, the stress of debate seems like too much to handle, but hearing about how much work Sarah is able to put in, and the results she gains from this, is an inspiration for us all.