21 day debate journey from Vermont to Missouri to Serbia to Slovenia and back to Vermont, January, 2003
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PART TEN: CONCLUSION

If you have made it this far in my journal no conclusion is really necessary. You will recall the major chapters of the trip, but for me certain images hang in my mind:

         The hard work of my students before the long snowy drive to Kansas City;

         The difficulties of the tournaments, but the way the students kept their spirits up and bounced back;

         The struggle to get to Belgrade;

         The amazing experience of seeing debate in Serbia in such a good state, with Milosevic in jail and debate in the national parliament;

         The joy of seeing my previous colleagues in Belgrade, especially Tomislav;

         The fantastic debate programs in Slovenia, the committed students and the adept teachers and organizers;

         The road manager wizardry of Bojana;

         The intense media and public focus on the threatening war against Iraq;

         The joy of the seaside after so much cold and snow.

Every trip creates more contacts and more networking. Every opportunity taken creates more opportunities for the future. I am not sure which contacts and which networks will lead to which opportunities, but I know it will happen.

The global debate community is not just a reality, it is a rapidly maturing and developing on-going venture. The voices have been raised, and hands have been held out, the cooperative development is well underway. Now the question is, what will we do with this global debate community?

My answer is simple -- I will be active, I will be involved. You can be, as well, but you have to step out and actually do it. Let me know how I can assist you in becoming involved.

Alfred C. Snider, alfred.snider@uvm.edu, http://debate.uvm.edu/tuna.html