By Diana Jimenez
Uplift Summit High School
For many delegates in the State Affairs Forum, first committee is where everything feels real. It is the first round at state, where proposals are presented and only 50 move on to second committee. From there, just 12 will advance to the General Assembly, which is one of the biggest stages in the forum.
For Delegate Uppal, this year carried even more pressure.
As a first-year member of Youth and Government and a first-time state delegate, Uppal already faced the nerves that come with competing at a higher level. At the district level, he worked with a partner. However, when his partner was unable to attend state, Uppal had to adjust quickly, as he went from sharing responsibility to handling research, presentation, and questioning entirely on his own.
Despite the pressure, Uppal advanced to first committee, ready to handle whatever was thrown at him. “First committee was a mess,” Uppal said. “Timing was all over the place, and evaluators didn’t have answers and weren’t present when needed. I applaud my committee room for adjusting to those constraints, but the YMCA needs to do better in planning this.”
While the room may have faced organizational challenges, delegates adapted. Presenters adjusted their timing, asked questions when possible, and continued debating under less-than-perfect circumstances. State Affairs Forum is meant to challenge students not just in policy debate, but in professionalism and flexibility. For many first-year delegates like Uppal, the experience became a lesson in resilience.
Even when things are not perfectly structured, the responsibility still falls on delegates to perform. And for those stepping into committee rooms alone for the first time, that pressure only builds confidence moving forward.