The UDL sucks and has given me depression. All jokes aside, they made us debate a whole round and wait upwards of 30 minutes just to say "It doesn't count, that one was just for fun." They also are consistently late and often make decisions against the wishes of the participants of their tournaments. In conclusion, this house would rate the NYCUDL one star.
No volunteer opportunity I've seen has offered so much to both the volunteer and the voluntee.
We've seen young people grow as leaders, helping others, opening their minds to empathy for those around the world or policies that have effects right here in the U.S.
Few work as hard or as positively and warmly. What a team to be part of. So rewarding, and growing more so all the time.
Loretta Brady
Through involvement with the NYCUDL, I have become a more confident, open, and articulate person! Their tournaments are always well run, and the staff are so helpful and hard working! Debate is such an important activity, and the UDL manages to connect high school and middle school students all over the city through weekly debate club meetings, as well as frequent tournaments and events.
The Urban Debate League is absolutely amazing. It has been a driving force in my life since I started high school. It helps your public speaking, your argumentation, your writing, and your social skills. It teaches you sportsmanship, kindness, and fairness. It teaches debaters these important life skills and most importantly, it is incredibly fun.
I'm a middle school teacher in the process of learning about NYCUDL. In an effort to learn more about what they do and how they do it, my colleague and I attended a middle school debate camp last week. Wow. NYCUDL had a wonderful debate mentorship program in place, where older, experienced debaters taught younger debaters in classes, lead them through mock debates, and taught them to "flow" (take copious notes on a debate in progress). I was floored. And these weren't super wealthy, genius kids, but regular kids (over 90% were children of color) who giggled, played on their phones, and couldn't sit still, even as they were learning how to debate. They were kids, but they were learning a host load of social, emotional, analytical, listening, speaking, and think-on-your-feet skills. They couldn't sit still until debate time, and then they became paragons of stillness, professionalism, and vocabulary words that they wielded with a jarring ease. What these folks are doing here is magical. Everyone should support this organization.