Henry Anastasi-Scott Senior Spotlight

Nathanael Kassahun 25'

As I’m sure everyone already knows, you are one of the best debaters in the country. Do you have any favorite memories from your debate career?

I feel like I really enjoyed Penn last year because every Penn team got to go and the debate team all got to hang out. It was one of the last tournaments I got to spend with the seniors that graduated last year, specifically Noah Eggerts and Sammie Keenan. I didn’t really appreciate how fun it was to go to tournaments with the seniors until they were gone. It's also nice we won. We also probably only won off of the seniors’s prep.

I also really enjoyed the LaSalle tournament this year. I was sad because Josh and Sam dropped a little early, but I was excited that all the juniors got a chance to sort of rise up. This year four of the juniors got to co-champ the tournament and it just made me feel very proud to see that the next generation of debaters was stepping up.

Another good one was the Bronx Science invitational this year. A lot of my friends in the national circuit were there and Josh and I did pretty well. We made it to semis, even though I felt like we weren’t putting our best foot forward.

Any big tournaments coming up soon we might see you on the news for, again?

Well, Josh and I were just the only public school team at the Ivy Street Round Robin in Atlanta, which they only invite “best” 6 teams nationally to. All the Ivy rounds are available on youtube but some of them I debated a little sloppy. We came second, which was pretty exciting, and then like twelve hours later I debated at Columbia with Owen Erdman. Josh and I are also planning a big “Tournament of Champions” run in April. We also have Penn coming back up in two weeks, maybe we’ll go back to back.

How do you spend your free time, aside from working on debate?

Recently, I was at a friend’s house and we hopped on Fortnite. I never liked it that much because I’m bad at building, but we played “Zero Build” and I was cooking. So I’ve been playing a little bit of Zero Builds on the side. I’ve also been watching the 76ers a lot this year.

What Masterman teachers have had the biggest impact and you? How?

I really appreciate Mr. Comfort. I wouldn’t say he’s had a mind-blowing impact on me as a person, but I really enjoy his banter and general demeanor which is why I’m not that upset about taking Forensics, even though it's a little stupid. I also really like Mrs. Vesci because I feel like her class really acclimated me for AP testing and college-level courses without it ever feeling super difficult or stressful, which is a pretty impressive teaching skill.

Word on the street is you are a two time engineering champion. Can you tell us more about this?

It’s hard to lose when Jonnah Burger is on your team in Engineering. We are a dynamic duo. Everybody else wants to be as good at popsicle stick bridges and towers as we are but it just won’t happen.

If you had to give one piece of advice to your freshman year self, what would it be?

Probably to give like 10% more effort and not let the silly things slip through, such as assignments and deadlines. But also just to not get super caught up in anything and stay laid back.

What motivates you to work so hard?

Oh I think it would have to be my really really big fear of failure.

If you had to pick one movie that describes, what would it be?

Probably “Interstellar.” I don’t know if it really describes me, but it’s a really good movie.

Are you excited to be moving into college in a few months? What will you miss the most when you leave?

Yea, I would say I’m excited to move in. It would be an interesting change of pace, but I’m here for it. If I go to college outside of Philly, I’ll also miss the city a lot. I mess with Philly. I’ll probably miss just the people in this school and the community that’s been built the most.