Emily Donaldson

Ascend Academy - Congressional Debate Coach

Emily Donaldson is a current senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has been a coach with Ascend for 5 years. After competing in Congressional Debate for all four years of high school, she has accumulated over 12 bids to the TOC and been ranked as high as 5th in the nation (per NSDA rankings). Additionally, she has been in final rounds at NSDA Nationals (12th in Senate), Harvard, Glenbrooks, and Blue Key with top six finishes at Bronx (6th), Emory (4th), GMU (2nd), Blue Key Round Robin (2nd), and Harvard Round Robin (5th). She previously also coached Congressional Debate at Durham Academy (her former high school) for three years. In her time at Durham, Emily’s students enjoyed many final round appearances and top-six placements at national tournaments including, but not limited to Yale, Glenbrooks, Blue Key, Princeton, Minneapple, Bronx, Harvard, and NCFLs. Above all, Emily is proud to have taken a young team with varying levels of experience and helped students consistently advance to elimination rounds at national tournaments.

Emily strives to teach students core crystallization/refutation skills that can be adapted to rounds with lay judge panels. In her eyes, Congress should remain a debate event, without sacrificing the polished and clear presentation skills that make it accessible to others. Emily will inspire students to own their voices and debate without fear of judgement in or outside of a session/round. As both a competitor and a coach, Emily has learned learned that finding success in Congressional Debate is so much more than fitting into the mold of the competitors that came before you. From efficient research skills to powerful rhetoric, every student has different strengths that allow their speaking styles to evolve in incredibly unique and personalized ways. Being able to take risks and push the debate forward in ways that are outside of your comfort zone are two skills that she hopes to pass on to all Ascend debaters this summer. Outside of debate, she enjoys saltwater fishing, studying Arabic, and trying (but mostly failing) to achieve difficult yoga poses. Emily is beyond excited to rejoin Team Ascend this summer!