Young Talent: ‘Success may be satisfying but failure is the force driving me towards it’

A 13-year-old law aspirant from Apeejay Svran Gobal School, Faridabad is on Cloud 9 owing to her credible performance at the recently held National Debate Competition organised by Bal Education Trust. The class VIII student was amongst the top 15 contenders who used her flair of words like a cakewalk to finally arise as a winner. Meet Mansi Biloniya.

In a conversation, she talks about how she tackled nervousness among other things.

How did you prepare for the national level debate competition?

My preparation for the final national level was more than how I did for the other two levels. I only had seven days to prepare. I distributed my time to prepare for the same. Though I completed forming the script a day before the competition, it took much longer because the topic was nowhere available so taking hints and then forming a script was too hard.

What was the topic of the debate?

The topic for the debate was: Vocational Fulfilment is Fundamentally Predicated on the Alignment of Professional Pursuits with Intrinsic Passions.

Were you nervous? How did you handle your performance during the competition?

Yes, at first I was nervous. It was the final level of competition and we couldn’t even get much time to research and practice but during the competition, I just went on speaking and arguing during the rebuttal round. When my turn came I was not nervous because I believed in myself and kept thinking everything was going well.

How did the school support you?

The school had a big role to play in my success. This is because it gave me this opportunity to stand at this level and represent myself and my school. Though my teachers were more excited than me, they supported me so much at every stage of preparation. By advising even on the holidays they were continuously building my motivation and zeal.

How did your parents support you?

I’m blessed with the most supportive parents. At home, they were too conscious of the competition. Instead of coaxing me to prepare for the upcoming exams and complete the holiday homework, they told me to give my 100 per cent in preparing for the debate. At times when I was nervous or stressed when I couldn’t find any points they were the only ones to motivate me again and because of them I could perform stupendously at the competition.

What are your aspirations?

I aspire to be a Judge at the Supreme Court. My goal is to do my college at a well-known law college. And I’ll try my best to develop that knowledge of the judge to serve my nation more efficiently. I will also keep following my hobbies like Kathak, art, sports, music, and debating so that I can develop a world beyond academics as well.