Ara, a freshman at the UC Berkeley College of Letters and Sciences, is majoring in Political Science and Government, and enjoys policy and theory debate. He has extensive coaching experience, having served as Head Captain of Fairmont Prep’s speech and debate team, Vice President of Youth Prose Scholars, where he coached underfunded middle school teams in Orange and Los Angeles Counties, and as a debate coach at Brookhurst Junior High. Ara also worked as a Senior Judge at the Orange County Debate League. His accomplishments include being a Gold TOC qualifier for three consecutive years, winning the National Debate Coaches Association National Championships, Peninsula Invitational (without dropping a single ballot), and the Holiday Classic, quartering Emory/Barkley Forum, Nano Nagle Classic, octofinals at the California Invitational at Berkeley, and reaching elimination rounds at numerous national circuit tournaments. Individually, Ara reached a ranking of 3rd in California and 12th nationally among all public forum debaters.