An epiphany

Dave recently asked me what elective classes I took in high school. As I told him about the classes I took, I came to an amazing realization! I realized that the classes I took at that tender age of 14-18 had a huge impact on my life. Just like everyone else, I was taking classes that I was interested in - experimentation classes to explore my interests and abilities. I'm just realizing all these years later, that an amazing thing happened during that process and it is this - I'm still using and pursuing many of those very same interests. I believe that part of who I am today is in large measure because of the classes I took that exposed me to some very interesting ways of thinking, and also exposed me to some skills and knowledge that kind of set the course for my life. Let me illustrate:
~I took an entire year of Shakespeare, for which I still have a passion and from which I can still explore the timeless themes that the plays address
~I took an additional year of grammar as an elective. (This was in the days before Title IX so there weren't any fun PE classes for girls to take!) One of the counselors said it would be a good class for college preparation. I diagrammed more sentences than I care to remember and consequently, my highest score on the ACT test was in English. It gave me a leg up in writing and understanding the mechanics of sentence structure.
~Four years of clothing construction and food preparation - good ole Home Economics which I addressed earlier. I still have a passion for home making and consider it an essential art.
~Two years of speech. I learned how to prepare and present talks and speeches for different occasions and I learned how to speak in front of people. I love to give talks now and we get that opportunity in our church assignment. I remember watching and listening closely when my Dad spoke. I tried to follow his pattern and use some of his techniques because I considered him to be a very good speaker. My mother was very good at giving readings and poems and I have learned from her example as well. I have given many, many talks through my life and I think this training early on helped me know how to do it and to have the confidence to speak. I even competed in speech contests in HS and got some recognition for extemporaneous speaking.
~Two years of debate. I'm just realizing that these classes may have had the biggest impact on me out of all the classes I took. I learned how to reason. I learned how to prepare an "argument" and present it in a clear and concise way. I learned how to back up my arguments with facts. I learned how to draw logical conclusions and present those facts. I learned how to research and think through a problem and look for ways to solve that problem. And I learned that there is always a PRO and a CON opinion and that each side always gets their chance to present.
Most High School debates share some general features. Specifically, any debate will have two sides: a proposition side, and an opposition side. The job of the proposition side is to advocate the adoption of the resolution, while the job of the opposition side is to refute the resolution.
The resolution can take many forms, depending on the format. But in most cases, the resolution is simply a statement of policy or a statement of value. In many debate formats, there is a requirement that a policy resolution (a resolution regarding the policies followed by some organization or government) represent a change from current policy, so that the opposition team will be defending the status quo. Usually, there is also a judge present in the debate whose job is to decide the winner.
I think I was probably kind of hard wired for this way of thinking already (given my personality color), but I believe that by taking these classes and actually participating in debates, that it set the stage for all future "arguments" what would come my way in the future. My husband has said many times that I would have made a great prosecutor and that I should have gone to law school. That may be true, but we'll never know.
Anyway, the epiphany is this - I can make a solid, logical argument and I know how to present the facts on many topics. If I don't know the facts, I'm willing to do the research to find them. But I also recognize that there are at least two sides to everything (as stated earlier in the pancake object lesson) and that the other side should always get their chance to present.
I wonder if sometimes people are so overwhelmed by the latent debater in me and with the presentation of my argument, that they come to the conclusion that I think I'm right and that I think I have all the answers. In reality, I've just presented my side of the argument and I'm perfectly willing to hear their side of it too. Sometimes they just give up because they don't have solid facts to support their views or they don't know how to do it. I also realize that some differences of opinion don't always deal in "facts" and that they are more subtle and nuanced. And in the end, there needn't be a winner or a loser, just an agreement reached whereby the two parties agree to disagree. This debate situation doesn't happen often, but when it does, I've always been baffled by the response of the "opponent" which is usually to fight (make it personal) or to take flight. Why don't people stay in the discussion until some resolution is reached, especially if the stakes are high?
Do you think I'm on to something?