Aravind Balaji, a senior at Johnston High School, frequently appears on television screens around the school. As it turns out he’s one of the best congress debaters in the state of Iowa, throughout his time competing he’s won countless tournaments around the state.

“I joined [Debate] in my freshman year of high school and have been in it ever since,” Balaji said.

Balaji recently won the Iowa High School Speech Association state championship. He won the congressional debate division, which consisted of over seventy competitors from all over the state of Iowa.

 “It meant a lot to finally win after getting second last year and third my sophomore year,” Balaji said.

Balaji is the captain of the Johnston debate team. In January the team placed second for the second year in a row at IHSSA state. This score matched the teams highest finish of all time, Balaji believes their success at this competition will give the team more confidence that can help them at next seasons national qualifiers.  

 “Obviously it was hard getting second place again, I think we had a good team to win it this year. But I also think we were able to learn a lot from the last two years that can help us hopefully take that next step and finally take the trophy from Iowa City West.” Balaji said.

After State, Balaji prepared for a tournament he’s won before and hoped to win again: the Iowa Forensic League State Championship. Balaji was able to take home first place for Johnston in the 2024 tournament and walked away with third this season. Balaji hopes to match his success this year to push himself into national qualifiers.

 “Winning last year was probably my biggest accomplishment up until I won at IHSSA earlier this year, and I really think I can and want to be able to win this tournament again to boost myself into national qualifiers in March.” Balaji said.

 National qualifiers are where Arvind has shined the last two years being put into the “Senate” where only the top two competitors move on. Winning this year wouldn’t only make Balaji a three-time national qualifier it would also allow him to represent Johnston at a tournament near home with the competition being held in Des Moines. 

“It’s cool to be able to have the tournament so close to home, especially in my last year where I can represent not just the school but the whole state,” Balaji said.

Balaji knows this is his last year and wants to be able to pass off the torch to the next generation of debaters at Johnston and leave the team knowing he left a legacy that can be remembered for years to come.

“I know we have good juniors and sophomores that will be able to lead this team to hopefully finally win the state championship to move up closer and forward as a program,” said Balaji.

To Balaji by doing his best he knows he’s done all he can and will be able to leave knowing he had nothing left to give.

“I want to be able to leave this team knowing I did my best. And I want people to know I did my best, regardless of the results I got,” said Balaji