After the first half of the debate season ends, Florence starts seeing improvements in how Francisco performs in domestic topics, but even then, he remains much stronger in international topics and hence doesn't always break. I get it, this year's best hope for us to go to Nats again will lie in Congress, but Francisco is shaping up to become a dark horse in international extemp, and Stacey in LD, she makes comments in her head when she boards the bus, before turning her attention to Francisco.

"While domestic topics in extemp tend to remain relatively basic, which area of domestic extemp are you weakest at, is it health, justice, education, personal rights, economy, public safety, environment or something else? Flo asks Francisco about what he could improve.

"You told me several times about how I am good at international topics, and how, for the state championship, I should focus on IX, and now I should focus on domestic topics?" the extemper feels like Flo has sent mixed messages all season long.

"We have three more tournaments to go before the state championship. For the next two months, and after Stanford ends, then you can leave domestic topics behind. Also, I think there is one thing that might irk you, but some DX judges don't seem to take kindly to foreign viewpoints. From what I've seen this season, judges assigned to judge international topic rounds are more open-minded"

"Why is it that you seem to focus more on Francisco over me?" Tania, the orat player, loudly complains.

"Orat is an event where pieces can make or break you, and also where judging pools can lack consistency, so while you could make it to the final here at Isidore Newman, you didn't get to the top three, and yet fail to break at Duke. How you deliver the speech can only do so much. Also, Francisco is here for only one season on exchange, so it's in the best interests of VA to get the most out of him while here" Flo then turns to Francisco. "On the other hand, since you have been here for about four months, you didn't have that long to get accustomed to how locals view political issues, and domestic extemp is exactly about that. Issues discussed in DX questions are often highly polarizing or specific"

"Same goes for us" the public forum players point out as they get next to Francisco.

"Sometimes, you can get an idea of one's political leanings from reading judging criteria if judges post them" she addresses all 3 players so concerned, but the LD players are already seated in the bus.

"I feel like I am learning a lot in extemp, different from what I'm supposed to learn in class, but still..." Francisco sighs as he gets seated in front of the LD players.

Sacrament! Now I have a better idea of why exchange students are often advised not to talk about politics while on exchange! And I knew that, while we aren't perfect, there are far worse countries for people to voice political opinions than the US. However, learning about other countries' politics are a component of what students could learn from the host country on exchange, Flo starts wondering about the Philippine freedom of speech environment. And yet, she feels like it would be useless to attempt getting Francisco to the ToC, since extemp at the ToC is about both DX (sometimes called USX) and IX, whereas NSDA Nats separates the categories.

When the bus is about to start, as Flo starts grading the review homework for the end-of-semester finals in her French courses, she overhears one of the LD players curse an opponent.

"Damn it! I lost a ToC bid against freaking DCC! D! C! C!" Stacey cries in her seat.

"What do you mean, you lost a ToC bid against DCC? Also, do you know what that means for you at Columbia and Stanford?" Flo asks a Stacey in tears.

"I lost in quarters at Isidore Newman. And the opponent rubbed it in my face that he was going to the ToC and I wasn't, and also that DCC finally broke a curse by defeating me!" Stacey keeps crying.

"Just prepare for the next topic as if you know you will be playing against DCC at Columbia and/or Stanford" Flo advises Stacey. "Sometimes revenge can be a good motivator for a debater, but make no mistake, Columbia and Stanford will be harder tournaments than Isidore Newman"

I know what it means. I will need to make it to quarters at Columbia and octos at Stanford, or else no ToC for me. However, I'm not sure what that guy meant by curse. He made it sound like we were their (Detroit Catholic Central's) biggest out-of-state debate rivals, and the parents of the players must have bankrolled the entire team's trip to New Orleans, Stacey ruminates, while she starts reviewing the material for her exams.

"Steven, I have no idea of what Stacey is even talking about. Apparently... DCC is our biggest rival on the debate floor?" Flo yelps upon suddenly learning about a VA rivalry on the debate floor.

"Our rivalry against Detroit Catholic Central actually began with quiz bowl, the year after you graduated, and it took one more year for it to spill over to the debate floor" Steven fills her in on more about key moments of this rivalry, Daisy being in some of the most virulent events in it, and DCC claiming VA cursed them out of the ToC.

Upon returning from the Isidore Newman Invitational, where the same Congressional player earning a ToC bid at Duke also earns one there, on Sunday, she grades what homework she can and then goes to bed.

At the same time, for some reason, she has the lingering feeling that a lot of issues will remain unresolved about selecting foreign exchange students even if the Rule of Two coaches no longer had any real say on that.

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At some point during the night, she starts turning into her bed and a dream quickly goes sour in her mind. Several ghosts torment her dreams, starting with Marianne's oneiric self entering the oneiric version of Flo's AP French classroom:

"We lost against DCC at Isidore Newman! We have no choice, we must ensure that we can defeat them in debates next year!" Marianne flashed a news release from DCC's debate team in front of Flo, forwarded to her by an angry school board member.

"DCC only does LD. With all due respect, we can't know, based on academic information only, whether a student, exchange or not, will be a good fit for LD, since, in the case of native student, the middle school curriculum doesn't do a very good job at teaching and assessing abstract thinking. And it's even worse in the case of a foreign exchange student, since we can't glean it from a transcript either!" Flo retorted to Marianne.

Then Ena's ghost entered the oneiric AP French classroom with a new suggestion to solve what Marianne perceived as their debate woes:

"If the means at our disposal aren't enough to scout for debate talent, then we must ask our prospective host families to make the scouting for us!" an angry Ena screamed at Florence.

"Marianne was punished last year for exactly that sort of unethical behavior; if we lose Marianne, there is no guarantee that whoever becomes principal in her place will actually have their priorities straight!" Flo disputed both of them over the plan of having the host families scout for extracurricular talent of any kind among prospective foreign exchange students.

"Then host a foreign exchange student yourself!" Ena kept screaming at Flo, and her face started to glow a bright red.

"It's too late for my family to undergo the application process for my family hosting a FES to be a viable option!" Flo kept screaming at Ena's oneiric self. "You were asking for host families to apply at the beginning of the school year!"

Ena's oneiric self then started writing an email all the host families with requests for the following: a prospect for LD debate, a musician performing any instrument among a list of priority instruments, a quiz bowler specializing in literature, a mathlete and finally an athlete playing any sport among a list of sports with clearly identified needs, knowing that, with five slots, they can't possibly plug every hole so identified in the student body with exchange students only.

"Mrs. Principal, we cannot possibly fill all holes in our student body with only five students! Which ones should be prioritized?" Ena, more disgruntled than ever, began asking Marianne's oneiric self about where her priorities lied for the student body in the short to medium term.

"Haven't you forgotten about the LHSAA rules? We can't ask for specific sports on the international student exchange markets, not even with host families doing the recruiting!" Flo vehemently argued.

"Next year, Flo, apply to host a foreign exchange student!" Marianne instructed and then her tone switched to one of a warning. "Also, we'll schedule a LD round, as well as a quiz bowl game, during homecoming week between us and DCC. On the same day, if at all possible, to save costs. We'd better win that LD round, or else!"

Why? Why is it that Marianne suddenly put pressure on the debate team? That's completely unlike her! She only set financial and headcount limits for the debate team, really, for all our academic teams, not to cross, but that's it! Football bankrolls the other sports, mathletics and FFA bankroll the other extracurriculars, Flo's oneiric self, confused, started to feel something is wrong.

"You're putting too much pressure on the debate team!" Flo's oneiric self started feeling her blood boil. "And why do you believe our rivalry against DCC in debates would draw people to a homecoming show against them?"

-----------------------

And then Flo's bodily self awakens, still reeling in from what she heard about in the bus, as well as what transpired last year to even get Francisco to come here in the first place. Of course, she's also worried about Ena attempting to place undue pressure on the host families for next year to use their roles to fill holes in the non-athletic extracurriculars, or other holes in the student body that might be fillable with exchange students. I feel like having an exchange student as a player is stressing me out more than if I didn't! Right now, I regret even having voted for the opening of VA to the international student exchange markets! Flo ruminates as she struggles to fall back asleep that night.

The following morning, Marianne begins the morning announcement, with two students inside the principal's office waiting for their turn to deliver their parts of the announcement:

"Hello everyone, the identities of the host families for VA's foreign exchange students for next year are now public on the school website! For what's to follow, the debate and quiz bowl teams have the floor"

"I, Rod Jones, am now qualified to the Tournament of Champions by virtue of finishing fifth in Congressional debate at the Isidore Newman Invitational. Also, Tania Hébert and Francisco Vargas placed fourth in orat and extemp respectively, and Stacey Miller reached the quarterfinals in Lincoln-Douglas"

Phew! Thank God Rod didn't mention me losing to DCC, and I will spend the entirety of the holidays practicing for the next cycle in some form! Stacey, burning with determination, starts formulating a plan to practice for the holidays, in hopes that she will be able to defeat DCC or obtain ToC bids. Other than that, the student body seems happy for the debate team, but does not follow it to the same extent as Trillian in the race to the IMO.

"And finally, the quiz bowl team won the LQBA Winter Invitational South! In addition, two of our players will play on the Southwest Louisiana team at the US High School Quiz Bowl World Cup qualifiers: Marissa Chavez and Anastasia Volzhin" Marissa then promptly returns to class.

Later in the day, she meets with Ena at lunch to relay her concerns regarding next year's exchange student selection process.

"Ena, even though the coaches are no longer directly involved in the selection process for foreign exchange students, I have my concerns, especially now that next year's host families are announced" Flo starts speaking.

"What are those concerns?"

"I would like to know what assurances you have that administrators won't exert undue influence on the host families to use exchange students to fill certain holes in the student body" Flo wants to prevent a repeat of last year's fiasco. "It's about ethics"

"Ethics? You really think that leaving coaches of activities subject to the Rule of Two out of this process is not enough to ensure we follow the best ethical practices in selecting foreign exchange students?" Ena's face starts to show signs of doubt.

"No; there's nothing that could prevent any administrators from sending out a wish list to host families or deny key documents from the students if they later turn out to be unsuitable for institutional needs!" Flo lists her major concerns regarding this process.

Marianne seemed to exhibit "all-or-nothing" behavior last year around this process, so maybe Florence is right, and she could deny a DS-2019 if the student so selected does not meet her draconian standards? However, the one thing that could compel her to file a DS-2019 for a student, even if the student doesn't quite correspond to the requirements, would be the money that goes directly from the organization to the school, and the MFP money, Ena struggles to think of what to respond to Flo's concerns over exchange students.

And, of course, these concerns apply parish-wide, as Ena admittedly doesn't know anything about the administrators of the other four high schools in the parish beyond all of them having their own set of school-specific student body issues.

"I'll confess that this entire process keeps me up at night, especially since the pool is limited, and it's entirely possible that some other school could swoop a student we really want. And not the least because some host family elsewhere could be a better fit than what we have here. We were lucky for this year" Ena confides in her. "Bottom line, don't expect any of next year's FES to be able to play as big a role on the debate team as Francisco did"

"I had nightmares about the increase in Marianne's demands out of the international student exchange markets, as well as making me host a FES for two years down the road"

"And, even though integrity is just one of the things the organization looks for in prospective families, as is ability to pay for hosting costs... It's not the end of the story"