Month Recap - September
Written: Sunday, October 4th, 2026
Hello again,
It's finally the end of September, a real turning point. To me out of all the months in the year, September is the most noticeable change. July to be honest never feels like half the year is gone, but when I see that September is done, I really feel like the year is actually coming to a close. It's weird but January did really feel like a long time ago even though in the bigger picture I know it not.
This month I've just been rebuilding my routine. I'm getting back into habit things like waking up early, studying for X time, meal prepping, saving money, hitting the gym, etc. It's still very much a work in progress though.
While rebuilding my habits I did have a couple detours if that's what I should call them.
First detour is that I got sick the first week of school. Awesome luck, had a fever, sore throat, and headache. Annoying to be honest but it wasn't the end of the world and in a way I feel like it's just a thing that someone in the universe is reminding me, before I start my new routine semester, to realize that a lot of things are not ever in your control and you just have to live with them. So in an odd way I'm sort of glad that I learned that lesson again earlier than later.
The second is that I recently joined my uni's debate club which saw me partake in a 3-day debate tournament in Montreal at McGill. I joined with no experience and expectations at all but I'm quite glad I did. I attended the "training day" event where I was paired up with a stranger and we debated about the Sentinel Island in a format called British Parliament.
The motion:
"On North Sentinel in the Bay of Bengal lives an isolated tribe, the Sentinelese, which is securely isolated from foreigners. If you were born on North Sentinel, basic needs for food and shelter are guaranteed, deadly diseases are rare, and no disaster related to climate changes will occur during your lifetime.
THW rather be born on North Sentinel Island than somewhere else in the world."
I was on the OO closing seat so I had to make the fourth speech in the room. Amongst the really shit points I made, I only remember arguing that incest would be inevitable (lol).
At the end of the debate evening, my debate partner suggested we apply for the Montreal Novice tournament. Before the I'd even met my partner, I already had my mind set that I was not going to attend the tournament since I was in Montreal 2 weeks ago, and also because I wanted to spend September to focus on my classes. Yet for some reason I had the delusion to convince myself in the 2 second buffer after his question to change my mind.
For some reason I think I just relied on the chance that we would not be one of the pairs selected for the tournament since only 15 teams could go but 3 days later by chance our pair was listed as participants. The next thing I knew though I was already sending my $50 to attend. In hindsight I'm glad the timing was happening really quick since if I thought about it too long I might have backed out. It was a rather quick decision I had to make but it worked out in the end I'd say since the trip and tournament was an enjoyable experience.
Montreal itself is already this unique place, even being there a few weeks before the tournament by myself, I wondered how much more I could enjoy going back that quick. My verdict: a lot. Montreal is so different from Toronto and when you think about it, it's a really strange thing for Montreal/Quebec to even exist in the way it has. The sights of European architecture, foreign French chatter, different business & street signs, semi-rude but relaxed pleasured expressions, and (in)famous food options, it all makes Montreal so appealing to me. Going around with some people in the debate club I'd met less than 24 hours ago made the experience fun too. Obviously we had the bagels, ate from a shit poutine spot, walked Old Montreal, went to a club followed by a hike to the top of Mont Royal at 3am, saw some souvenir shops, and drank around the city.
As for the debating, I haven't done something like that in so long. I don't even know what to describe that feeling of "so long" as. It was fun, humbling, new, tiring, social, awkward, hype, nerve racking, and so many other feelings I don't think help you understand what I'm trying to convey at this point. Essentially since it was the second time I'd actually debated, the first one being from the training day a week earlier, I was learning every emotion about debating.
The tournament was two days. On the first day, every team got to compete in four rounds and experience every position (OG,OO,CG,CO). We were scrambling to the assigned debating rooms, prepping in 15 minutes on the floor, and bullshitting 5 minute speeches. The motions were all very different and the debater levels we faced were all very different too. With the live rankings being public on the tournament website, my partner and I were praying to see our rank improve after we kept trying to find ways to better our speeches. The sheer amount of variables in my first real debating experience was killing me to the point I couldn't even think of arguments in the last round. In the end, my teammate and I didn't make it to the advanced rounds on the second day. Yet I really appreciated the kid for the experience, and the chance to try debate in a fast paced setting to learn with relatively low stakes.
I've always wanted to try debate. I'm not sure how it took this long and I'm not sure what it would have looked like if I'd joined/tried debating earlier (well I'd probably be a better debater) but I'm honestly quite glad that I learned debating this way. It's something I plan to keep attending because why wouldn't you want to learn how to win arguments with your friends lmao.
Speaking of extra curriculars I've been getting into I've also been trying judo. One thing I know I'm going to miss when I graduate is the abundance of cool classes my uni's rec center offers, especially at an affordable price for students.
Judo is now the fourth martial art I'm trying out. I've done muay thai, boxing, and jiu jitsu in the past but I think I already put judo as the most enjoyable. I think
the structure and discipline of the class is very good compared to the other martial arts I've done. It's probably because I'm in an actual beginner class which I think helps for learning all the basics, especially at a good pace. My other experiences in martial arts often the levels are so different that it's really hard to follow since the coach can't make the class too slow.
I'm looking forward to each class though, and at the end of the semester we're supposed to get our yellow belt which I actually didn't expect. I'm not sure what it entails to get a yellow belt but I hope it gives me the opportunity to compete in some competitions. I've been eagerly imagining about competing. I've started watching some game highlights, Wikipedia learning about legends, and have been thinking about how to adjust my gym training for judo too.
It's a full circle moment since the first martial art I ever did was judo when I was 5 or 6 years old. It was run by the Korean church that I grew up at. Obviously I don't remember anything from the classes other than always being the last one to finish the drills, but it's sort of cool that I'm doing it again. I also feel like it was meant for me to come back to judo with more excitement.
That's September anyways.
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