Laura is the Head Coach of the Romanian National Debate Team. She is also many other things: a debate trainer, a certified English teacher, and, more generally — as she likes to describe herself — “an education nerd.”

Outside the classroom, Laura is an amateur runner, hiker, and improvisational theatre actor. A friend, a daughter, a partner — and, above all, a human being.

For this talk, though, she’ll be wearing her “Head Coach” hat. Last year, she had the privilege of guiding — and being guided by — an incredible team of debate trainers and an inspiring group of high school debaters who put Romania on the international debating map. The team qualified for the octofinals of the World Schools Debating Championships, ranking 7th in the world — Romania’s highest position so far. The debaters also received the 1st, 2nd, and 7th Best Speaker Awards in the English as a Foreign Language category.

After 13 years of teaching and training students of all ages — over 2,000 hours of lessons, countless coaching sessions, and several years of debating and awards of her own — Laura is now looking forward to seeing where this path will lead next.