“Follow your passions, and you will find your purpose.”Andrew Gould ‘26 Qualifies for Debate Worlds
Courtesy of @debaters.of.exeter
By CIARA O’NEILL, AARYAN PATEL, MARVIN SHIM, and MEGHAN TATE ZEE
Upper Andrew Gould, an advanced team member of Phillips Exeter Academy’s Daniel Webster Debate Society (DWDS), qualified for the 2025 World Universities Debating Championship, which will be held this spring in Malaysia. Gould will compete against some of the best youth debaters in the world, where he will be one of the eight debaters representing America.
The route to worlds for Gould consisted of high performance and subsequently winning an individual prize at one of the DANEIS tournaments of New England prep schools. Gould explained, “I believe one of the first-place debaters for one of the tournaments had already qualified to worlds, and so the league chose the debater with the highest average speaker points who hadn’t already qualified which was me.”
Qualifying for Worlds is a dream for all debaters. “It has been a real motivator, pushing me to work hard and learn the art of debating,” Gould explained. “Being able to meet fellow debaters from across the world and have a shot at winning is an incredible opportunity.”
“I began debating in my lower year and have worked diligently to improve since then,” Gould continued. “Dhruv was my advanced team coach who truly mentored me during the spring and summer, providing incredible feedback on how to improve and do better.”
Gould marks the third consecutive year of Exeter sending a debater to the world level for impromptu debate. “I was very pleased. I know that it’s something that Andrew’s been working on for a while now,” Debate co-head Dhruv Nagarajan explains. “As coheads, we have been working very hard to give the debaters as many chances as we can, working under limitations we had in terms of time and how many tournaments we could attend.”
Lower Lake Zhou expressed a similar sentiment, “Andrew 100 percent deserves it. He is always putting in the work for debate, studying, and practicing. It was no surprise that he qualified for worlds.”
Debate co-head Emma Sordi, who placed second in Worlds Debate impromptu last year, stated, “The big thing for us was it was a wild card pick, so it was kind of an extra nomination from the US delegation over an average of the tournaments this year. So I think it’s a testament to how well he performed at St. Paul’s and how hard he worked over this year. We have a lot of confidence in his potential at worlds across almost all categories.”
Nagarajan, who served as Gould’s coach last year when he was part of the Advanced B Team, also attested to Gould’s growth as both a debater and person since joining the team. Initially, Gould was much more involved in public forum debate, but as he spent more time practicing with the team, his interests shifted towards impromptu and parliamentary debate.
Nagarajan explained, “I’ve seen him grow from someone who might not have been as open to parli, might not have been open to being part of a team, to someone who embraces that team aspect of debate and embraces the people around him.” Gould’s debate skills have also heavily improved, Nagarajan commented, “I think he’s gotten a lot better at organizing his thoughts, delivering his thoughts, his structure, and he’s just brilliant with his logic.”
Gould’s work with the DWDS community is not just centered around improving his own debate skills but rather teaching other debaters. Zhou stated, “He has been a great mentor, motivating and pushing me to be better. He has given me such good advice, and his positive energy is contagious.”
The next few months for Gould will consist of intense training with the overarching goal of performing well. “Following Worlds, I intend to uphold the longstanding tradition of senior debaters dedicating their time and effort to training the next generation of Exonians in the art of debate,” Gould explained. “I am hopeful to continue that legacy and train some future Worlds debaters.”
Sordi concluded with a message to Gould, “Congratulations, buddy. We’re all rooting for you. I’m going to be there to guide you through the whole process.”
When asked what he would say to Exonians with World’s Debate as their goal, Gould advised, “Get involved, don’t stand idly by, and seize every opportunity presented to you. Each chance to volunteer, express your opinion, or contribute to your community has the potential to reveal a new passion, and, as my dad is fond of saying, ‘Follow your passions, and you will find your purpose.’”
Gould closed by expressing his gratitude to everyone who has helped him in his path, “I want to thank my incredible friend Ezra Segal and mentor Colin Jung, both of whom pushed me to explore debate; my debate captains, Dhruv, Emma, and Joonyoung, who have guided me every step of the way; and my brilliant partner, friend, and brother in arms, Jinmin, who has stuck with me through thick and thin, always kept his calm, and remained confident in our ability to win.”
