By Justice Emerick
Before the end of December 2025, a flyer for the first ever “Ronald Reagan Sunshine State Debate” began popping up around the English building here on campus. Although, I had not paid it much thought until the English department head, Mike Will, popped into a Corsair meeting, and being a poor college student, I latched on to “free trip” and “scholarship prize”, but the defining factor was that I didn’t have to have experience to go. So, I obviously went to the meeting.
It was small, no more than maybe eight of us—not counting Mike Will, who had come to observe. That is where I met the team’s coach, Professor Lauren Baugus, a kind English professor, and Professor Robert Thead, who had been brought in specifically for the Sunshine State Debate due to his political science background.
I knew what I came in for, and honestly, I wasn’t planning to stay past the money part until Mike Will manifested behind me and whispered, “You should stay for the meeting”. Ominous, but I liked his style, and I am glad I did, because getting to formally meet Mrs. Baugus and the current speech and debate team was beyond my expectations. They were fun, captivating, and genuinely passionate about what they were doing, and I loved that. I didn’t have the heart to tell them I was too busy to join. So, I said yes anyway, and made time because passion doesn’t grow on trees, and I needed that spark.
And that is how I became a member of Pensacola State College’s first Forensic Speech and Debate team in over twenty years! We also happened to be officially starting in the heat of debate season; it was all in, and we were ready.
It turns out none of us knew what we were doing—in a good way! We had a blank slate, and we were learning as we went along, and Mrs. Baugus was in it for the long haul. She learned every aspect of each style of speech and debate for us; even stating in my interview with her, “My #1 job is to empower and equip my team.” Which she has and continues to do so through team input, games, and feedback from our previous debate rounds, that at the time I am recounting, was only online. We had not had the opportunity to face off in person. Until February 15th—the first ever Inaugural Sunshine State Debate, created in celebration of America’s 250th anniversary.
Professor Thead manned the helm on our journey to Tallahassee, Florida, where after rigorous last minute preparations on our and the actual event’s parts, we were alight with nervous excitement and equipped with pages of court cases, data sheets, and good vibes.
The first day was eventful, we had four of our five current members with us at the time, Ayla Foreman, Stephon Adams, Sevy St. Hilaire and myself—but we quickly adopted a teammate from Seminole State College, Angela Yang, who was the sole member of her school’s debate team and was just as green as we were. We spent the night preparing together, there was no worry that anything we said could be turned against us because if kindness helped her win, then we were all winners.
The Inaugural Sunshine State Debate was an unforgettable experience, and even though we were all inexperienced, we gave it our all, made friends, and celebrated with each other as the final round took place in the historic Florida State Capitol building. It was something beautiful that happened there, on Tallahassee’s capitol hill and Professor Thead captured it perfectly, “It’s healthy competition, and competition is a good thing. But the participants are surprisingly very supportive of one another. It’s refreshing to see people publicly argue about issues of political nature and then be friendly with one another. I remember when people used to do that. It’s a skill most Americans have forgotten or have never seen.”
While we did not win, the connections we made were valuable, and we learned a lot from it all. Angela and I still talk, and I hope to see her again when we win next time. If you would like to learn more about this debate and the winners, Lillan Clay of North Florida College (first place) and Justice Robinson of Hillsborough College (second place), the Florida Department of Education has it available on their website below.
The trip wasn’t over, however, as we all had to head home to switch clothes and captains.
The FIFA (Florida Intercollegiate Forensics Association) state tournament started only a day after we got home, so we loaded back into the van with Mrs. Baugus at the helm this time! She brought us cookies her children had made for us, an endless supply of stories and even more snacks from her mom bag of everything.
Sadly, Stephon couldn’t make it then, but Sevy, Ayla, and I were ready to represent. The competition was very different from the previous debate we attended. This one had layers. A multitude of competitions and multiple rounds of each, with a full day to decide finalists and winners. It was fast-paced and nerve-wracking in the best way; it felt good to see my team so excited to be there, and the people we went up against were just as kind as they were when we met them at the Inaugural Debate, and even the newcomers were the same. People were giving tips to each other, performing their hearts out, and when I ran out of index cards, people gave me extras, “in case you break.” They were preparing me in case I won; they wanted me to have what I needed to be prepared. Mrs. Baugus experienced similar interactions: “Every other coach I spoke with was complimentary and helpful. Every competitor I interacted with was polite, enthusiastic, and thrilled to be there. I enjoyed seeing the camaraderie in the Forensics community. Everyone claps for everyone else both before and after a speech, and I witnessed competitors giving one another tips, loaning pens and index cards, fixing one another’s ties, and just generally demonstrating the kind of social ease and kindness that you really don’t find everywhere these days.”
We didn’t have a big break here either. I know that hurt my team a bit, because Ayla put her soul into her piece, and I know it was beautiful. Sevy is phenomenal with his charismatic nature, but his silliness wasn’t for those judges, and that’s okay. When the day was over, we were proud of each other, and so was Mrs. Baugus, “I feel like a proud mom when I get to talk about my team!”
I didn’t win all of the rounds I was sure I had, but I did win one! I’m proud of that, and I love my teammates.
I can’t wait to try again with everything we know now, and I hope you will take the time to check us out! Maybe even try it yourself.
I joined by accident, but you can join on purpose, and I know you will love it too.