Guarino, Maricel B.

January 15, 2011

Pineda, Jean Kathlynn M.
BSA 2-7D

Behind the Success

Success of any team depends on the overall work of everybody, whether it has five members or five
thousand. A writer once said, “With a good team in place, your company can reach new heights of success. With the
wrong team assembled, even the best laid plans can fall apart and cause the business to stagnate.”

Dyed-in-the-wool, the Political Science debate team is a pride of University of Santo Tomas (UST) for
years. It is the official debate organization of The Political Science Forum that seeks to spread the art and science of
debate to students. Moreover, they represent Political Science students in debate tournaments within the University
of Santo Tomas. On the ground, building this team had been rigorous as if the team was built from scratch. The said
team, like any other team, also has its weakness in some point and has a need of a tune-up. Tracking previous talk of
rifts between the team, they had some effective approaches or practices that solidify them as a team.

They share their vision. As a group, they were all clearly articulated with the vision that the Team seeks to
train individuals who have the capacity and interest to debate and to nurture their talent and knowledge as they
represent not only Political Science students but the University as well. Putting the vision out there as they recruit
new talent attracts people to the team who want to be there and have the most to contribute and making the team
stern of their work.

They send the right message. They speak out opinions and send messages across. Ms. Camille Lee, a
member of the team, said, “Winning is not everything; having to voice and speak up the Team's concern and
opinions is what that truly matters.”

They break down barriers. To foster a collaborative atmosphere in the team, they spend time together.
They get chances to know each other as people not just co-workers. Through this, they can discover a more mutually
supportive culture.

Working together as a team, the Political Science debate team were proud to let people see their recent
achievements:

 Champion(Finals, Standpoint 2010)

 Breaking Team (Semi-Finals, Standpoint 2010)
 Breaking Team (Quarters, Standpoint 2010)
 Breaking Team (Semi-Finals, AB Debate Series 2010)
 Breaking Team (Quarters, AB Debate Series 2010)
 Champion (Finals, AB Debate Series 2009)
 Breaking Team (Semi-Finals, AB Debate Series 2009)
 Breaking Team (Quarters, AB Debate Series 2009)
Ms. Camille Lee(left) of Political Science Debate Team, UST, and Ms. Jean Kathlynn Pineda(right) of
Polytechnic University of the Philippines.

Photograph by: Maricel Guarino

“At first, the only reason I joined this organization is to help me

gain confidence in recitations. However, few trainings after that, I
became interested. I am still afraid of speaking in front of a crowd
but I enjoy the thrill of debating. Another beneficial effect is that
I gained new friends; having joined is like having another family.”

-Ms. Camille Lee

Political Science Debate Team, member