My name is Adrian Lossada and my debate partner is Jasper Pacheco. We compete for Saint Mary's College of California's debate team. The style of debate we do is called Parliamentary debate. Jasper and I are currently ranked 4th in the country in this style of debate. Our partnership is known as Saint Mary's LP. The ultimate goal for us is to try and win the national championship tournaments in March. One of them is referred to as the "NPDA," which is a tournament where everyone in Parliamentary debate is invited to compete and see who the best team in the country is. Jasper and I, along with the rest of Saint Mary's, will be competing at this tournament.

However, just days later is the second national championship tournament, the "NPTE" or National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence. Traditionally, a tournament that invites only the top 28 teams in the country to compete against each other in the most competitive and intense tournament of the year. Jasper and I wish to compete at this tournament too, but our coach has stated that our team does not have enough funding to compete at this tournament. This year, both the NPDA and NPTE are being hosted at McKendree in Lebanon, Illinois, which requires the team to pay for flights, food, and hotels. We have the start of this trip covered for NPDA, but we need funding to stay about five days longer for NPTE. All extra funding received will be added to the team's budget to help others in the future that strive for the same experience opportunities.

Jasper and I want to experience and compete at the highest level of debate we can. Saint Mary's has always been seen as an underdog until this year, and we want to make a name for ourselves and do our best to win our school a national championship.