On March 18, 2023,the Virginia High School League held its Regional Debate competition. Lightridge sent four competitors and one,  freshman Panchami Rangaraju, placed first.

Rangaraju  has been a part of the debate team since the start of this year. She originally came to debate looking to join the Public Forum team. Realizing that there would be no Public Forum team offered, she joined Lincoln-Douglas, a one-on-one debate competition.

While Lincoln-Douglas wasn’t her first choice, Rangaraju said she would “stick with it” for the next four years. Rangaraju has competed in six competitions this year, including Regionals. She said, “Debate is really fun for me. It’s one of my favorite extracurriculars.”

The topic for Regionals was  whether or not Supreme Court justices should have term limits. While it can sometimes be difficult to argue something one personally is against, this is  not an issue for Rangaraju. 

“Opinions kind of stay out of the debate, “ said Rangaraju. “If I don’t agree with it, how can I debate it? I have to take away that personal bias.”

When it comes to strategy, Rangaraju ensures to use her time wisely. She is allowed to use her phone as a stopwatch during the debate and so she tracks how long she has been speaking and how long she has left. She said the affirmative side is “at more of an advantage because ‘aff’ gets to close.” On the other hand, the negative side has to “state their constructive and rebuttal in the same speech,” which can be arduous. 

Despite the negative side being harder to debate, Rangaraju prefers arguing the negative side, in general.

“I think there is a lot more freedom for creative arguments on the negative side,” said Rangaraju.