Against the odds.

By request from her ladyship.

I'll be perfectly honest, I was actually dreading the thought of seeing that debate pan out. I've seen my fair share of one sided drubbings, and it could get ugly. I have seen just how crushing such defeats can be, just how demoralizing such demonstrations of ruthlessness can crush the spirit.

But I put up a brave front. When I saw the motion, my heart sank further. International relations. Probably the least forgiving of the themes that could have emerged for the round.

An hour and a half later, I was left feeling so proud of the products of our half assed academy that I wanted to hug them all. To say that they rose to the occasion would be an understatement. They were like 300 Spartans surrounded by the Persian army. They were like Stephen Chow in Kung Fu Hustle. Even after getting his head pummeled into the floor, he raised this small stick with the last ounce of his strength and tapped the greatest assassin in the world on the head.

It was, to me, one of the most inspiring 'never say die' moments I have seen. Others would have curled up into a ball and prayed for it to end quickly. They took the fight to their illustrious opponents and kept the facade till the very end.

The fairly spectacular fallout that happened after that was painful to watch, but they all bounced back admirably in the next round.

This is totally cheesy, but that really was one case of students teaching the mentor something.