Junior School students canoeing during a school trip.

York School News

Experiential Learning

7/8/2020

It’s not about the debate. It’s about making sense of the (sometimes overwhelming) global issues and the confidence that grows as a result.

“Be it resolved that A.I. should be banned.”

Ryan Cho, soft-spoken and always curious, is also recognized as among the best

Canadian high school debaters.

Whether it’s about welcoming a green technology future, or fixing social isolation, Ryan

knows that solutions to global challenges will come through dialogue.

“We are a small dot on a giant map, and sometimes the issues heaped on

top of each other can be overwhelming,” he says. ”But debating the issues, analyzing

them and exploring different perspectives is when they start to make sense and we get

hopeful.”

“Debate leads to awareness, and awareness to action,” announces Cho. He says this

not as an idealist, but with the conviction that it’s an irrefutable fact. “Debating helps me

break down the big picture.”

Ryan is inspired seeing positive action come from thorough discussion. “Watching

people step up to make a difference fills me with confidence that the human race is fully

capable of fixing the challenges faced on this planet.”

Ryan the debater believes that human potential is limitless. His advice to the less

hopeful? “Start with community and show how your little corner of work connects to the

global issue.”

It’s not all ‘sky is falling’ stuff in debating competitions, he adds. “Debating topics are as

wide as the horizon.” Take, for example, culture and entertainment. Ryan once debated

‘whether Disney Princesses were good for kids.’

Ryan’s mother thinks he “might accidentally become a lawyer.” Ryan is not sure. Yet

through debating he has learned about perspective and his place on that giant map.

With help from The York School Fund, Ryan represented York at the World Individual

Debate and Public Speaking Championships in South Africa (where he placed in the top

third).

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About the York School

The York School is a gender-inclusive JK to Grade 12 independent school located in the heart of Toronto. The York School was founded in 1965 and is the first English speaking school in Canada accredited to offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) from junior kindergarten (JK) to university entrance. As an IB World School, The York School's motto is Experience Teaches.