To the Speech & Debate Community,

I don’t talk much about my personal history, but as many of you know I attended John F. Kennedy High School, a Title I public school in Sacramento, California. Our debate team’s official coach was a well-meaning but ultimately overwhelmed AP Government teacher (who I now consider a personal friend). Around my senior year he was promoted to Vice Principal and was replaced by a teacher who openly didn’t want anything to do with the activity. Thus, it was left to me, and I took on the role of head coach immediately upon graduating.

When I was in high school, I didn’t have a private coach, partly because my league was so small and insulated that most of us didn’t know such a thing existed. Even if I did know, I couldn’t afford it. I never attended a camp, as I couldn’t afford them either. Unfortunately, an Ascend (who is very generous with aid)  didn’t exist in California. In fact, the first debate camp I physically attended was my own (Ascend) in 2022. 

My parents helped me the best they could, but I had a rather uninspiring career as a debater. I qualified to State and Nationals my senior year but dropped in prelims at both. I loved my experience though. Nationals my senior year was my first time competing outside of Northern California so it was incredible seeing how big this community really was. 

I came from a very small league. We didn’t win much outside our borders, but I loved it. I met some of my best friends through that league. I loved my time in that league with them. We didn’t have the competitive results, and certainly didn’t have the money of wealthy Bay Area leagues, but it was fun. 

It didn’t come without struggle, though. My school had absolutely zero coaching, while my opponents tended to have at least some. Being the only Black or Mexican debater and losing often left me frustrated, a feeling too many of you can relate to, losing, and wondering how I could just get better. I was lost. This era also had barely any free resources available. Fortunately, that has changed thanks to the work of Ascend and many other members of our wonderful community. I resented those with resources and grew angry, but that certainly didn’t help my results, and I just kept losing and losing and losing. Despite that, Michael Fry, the former coach who became Vice Principal, saw something in me, believing in me way more than I did. He offered me a head coaching job at only 18 years old. It was bold and I’m sure he was told it was stupid, but he did it anyway. He took a chance on a kid with 0 notable accomplishments to his name, and in doing so he changed my life. I’m forever indebted for his kindness, and I hope I’ve made him proud in all I’ve done. 

Returning to my league, I went from being the only Black or Mexican debater to finding myself as the only Black or Mexican coach. I still had no experience, but I had a team that needed a coach, so I jumped in headfirst. I had a freshman, Rohit Jhawar, whose potential was, uh, let’s just say “apparent,” and I felt a personal obligation to make sure his potential wasn’t wasted the way mine was. So, I did what I should’ve done in high school, let go of misplaced anger and studied the game. I watched more National finals videos than I care to admit. I kept watching and tried to justify the results, even if I disagreed with them, to understand not just WHAT won, but WHY it won. I watched so many of Rohit’s rounds that I’m sure I came across as a helicopter coach. I am forever grateful to him because he allowed me the space and grace to learn how to coach through trial and error. We failed a lot, but I think it’s fair to say we figured it out, as he became a TOC and NSDA champion. I was and am so proud of that. The only resources we had were my old CVFL buddies, who graciously offered time and advice along the way. I had $0 to pay them, but they helped out an old friend out of the goodness of their hearts. It was a big win for all of us, and I still look back and smile. It was the culmination of what at the time was a 7-year journey, and I was still young enough to think of that as an infinitely long road. People who hadn’t been in high school for a decade or more reached out to congratulate us because JFK just wasn’t a school that won. We got pummeled by affluent public schools and very wealthy private schools with 5-figure tuitions. But not in 2019. We did it with a lot of hard work and the power of friendship. 

I considered quitting after that Nats. I had accomplished the ultimate goal, and this wasn’t financially sustainable. See, I made $3,000 a year (yes, a year) for my work. I had one private student who paid me $40 an hour once a week. All together I made around $3,500 a year off of debate. I paid for my own flights and sometimes even my hotel room. I paid for my own gas. Of course, this doesn’t make me special. Many amazing coaches do this to this day, and the activity’s existence is predicated on their sacrifice. I’m just saying I understand the struggle. I quite literally cleaned up puke and God knows what else at my dad’s bar just to afford being a debate coach. It’s no wonder that those close to me thought I was insane. If you didn’t catch on, debate coaching was a net loss, but it was the only passion I had, so I kept at it. After 3 years, despite lots of success, I had to acknowledge that I couldn’t live like this anymore. It was either quit or make some money.

I accepted a job at James Logan High School since they could give me a monthly check rather than a tiny stipend at the end of June. I was fortunate enough to receive multiple offers that summer, including some from those 5-figure tuition private schools I mentioned earlier. I didn’t want to work at those, and still haven’t. I chose Logan because, like where I come from, it’s a Title I public school that serves many disadvantaged students. Logan makes debate possible for many students for whom it wouldn’t be otherwise, and that’s a mission I believe in and align with. The difference between Logan and JFK was the fact that Logan had decades of fundraising experience and its own tournament, so they could pay me more consistently. It was not my highest offer, but I knew it was the right place for me. I still didn’t forget where I came from, as I continued coaching for JFK’s $3,000 and paid for my own travel for another 3 years. We won more titles, and JFK advertises what my team did to this day. Unfortunately, I had to leave JFK once Michael Fry accepted an incredible opportunity out of state. If Mr. Fry called me to do free work right now, I’d drop what I’m doing and run to do that free work. Without him at JFK and the new admin being unwilling to help me out in any way despite being a top program in the country, I worked one last year for free then I left. I cried on my last day because I loved that team, but it was the right thing to do. I still offer JFK free services any chance I get. There are days where I miss that team. Even as I type this, I smile as I think back on my old JFK team. 

Shortly after I started with Logan, it became pretty clear to me that some people out there wanted to hear my thoughts on Congressional Debate. That’s why Ascend began. I came up with a new and innovative way of running a debate camp. It was a fully online 1 on 1 camp! Yes, we were going to be online in 2020 before the pandemic hit! Once everyone else joined us online, the format I created was a selling point. Also, the lower price (online means a couple hundred thousand dollars less expenses, after all) and elite staff helped. We had very good pricing, a unique format, and all-star coaches. In preparation we offered free coaching to the whole circuit and still managed to pay the coaches for their time. The sign-ups for it were bonkers. 

We also gave a ton of financial aid along the way. Many students got full ride scholarships and even more got the price knocked down significantly. Of all the major online camps, we were also the cheapest. Honestly, we were more of a nonprofit, because it’s certainly how we operated (let’s just say those margins were not large). We only got paid for the work we did, and it still wasn’t much if I’m being honest. There was no profit. I still gave out thousands of dollars in aid because I believe in my heart Ascend is for everyone. I also don’t check tax returns when giving aid as many organizations do. I tend to believe people when they say they need it, and who am I to say otherwise? We simply have a conversation. It’s why in 5 years, we’ve given out over $125,000 in financial aid. I won’t ever name names, but some of your favorite debaters have attended Ascend on financial aid. 

We still gave out aid in Summer 2022. See, we went too big way too fast in 2022. We shouldn’t have had our first in-person summer camp in New York so far away from California. We stupidly expected things to go right back to normal in the first in-person summer. We were fools. I had to lay off a lot of staff a month before camp because the money to pay them quite literally didn’t exist. I apologize to those people. Some were my former students. I still think back to that summer and feel awful. Ascend took on debt that summer, as we didn’t have enough money to run camp. Owners infusing personal money into the company was the only thing that saved us. I think I would’ve been justified in not providing any aid that summer, but we provided thousands anyway. It was definitely the least amount of aid we’ve offered in a given year and we had to reject some (I apologize to those folks as well), but we offered it anyway. I offered the most I could without ruining my personal finances. If I did hurt my personal finances, it wouldn't have been the first time. When Ascend can’t afford to distribute financial aid, I have on more than one occasion paid my personal money to Ascend so the student can attend. I’ve given portions of my paycheck more than once. Other times, I have asked our financial officer to lower my pay so we can afford to give more aid. I’ve even done this so we can hire outstanding staff that we didn’t have the budget for. I have quite literally put my money where my mouth is when it comes to my goals of inclusivity. This has been our mission and always will be. 

Things are better now. We can help without as much personal sacrifice involved. We offer more financial aid than ever before. Seriously. Ask us if you need it. Things being better now means we can offer more of the opportunities and resources that we love to provide. Ascend Academy (one of our school year coaching programs) is now completely free for anyone. We will provide coaching to anyone in the country that wants it. They won’t be coached by current high school students either. It’ll be with former debaters we trust as outstanding coaches. My favorite part of this is that we will continue to pay coaches for their Ascend Academy work. That’s because at Ascend, our coaches aren’t volunteers, as the pursuit of equity shouldn’t require unpaid labor. We will fully compensate our coaches while providing the service to the whole country. Ascend hasn’t been in a financial position to do this until now, but now that we are, we’re excited to launch it. This is a first-of-its-kind program, and we hope the country enjoys it. It’s another reason why I believe Ascend rises above solely 2-week camps. We aren’t just a 2-week camp. We are a year round operation with an intensive 2-week camp in the summer. That camp is supplemented with paid and free services that operate 11 months of the year. You also don’t need to attend our camp to get the 11 months of free Ascend Academy access. I love this activity and always will. Thank you to every single client we’ve had since 2020, it is because of you that this is possible. Thank you and please enjoy this offering! If you ever want to have a conversation about Ascend’s goals in this activity or even just have a conversation about this activity, please feel free to reach out to me at quest.sandel@ascendspeech.org. Thank you for reading and for letting me get this far in this activity. It is humbling to be able to help those that relate to my story. Good luck at the upcoming major tournaments!

- Quest Sandel