Kesia Oliveros is an extremely accomplished senior at Doral Academy who excels in clubs like Model UN, is at the top percentage of her class, has a talent for dance and continues to do more. Next year, she will be on her way to Williams College where she received her most recent acceptance. However, these past two years, she’s also been a part of Doral Academy’s Ethics club. 

     Last year of 2018, teams from Ethics club debated and studied for months in preparation for January where they would anxiously reach competition day. Kesia Oliveros’ team won round after round, and finally reached the finals. This was where it would be determined if her team would be moving on to Nationals with a cash prize of $3,000. After an hour of heated debate, we heard the judges’ score, revealing the opposing team to be the winners of that year and moving forward to Nationals with $3,000 in their pockets. 

     Outraged at the loss of a trophy they so rightfully deserved, Kesia slammed her foot down hard enough to break her shoe. I had the luck to see it in action and feeling that slam echoing down the halls of that entire building. This is also the moment that Oliveros’ credits the moment with the creation of her own competition, Applied Ethics Championship. “I was so angry at how unjust everything was. If you’re doing ethics, then it makes no sense for themselves to be unethical? We worked so hard. Why are we at such a disadvantage?”

     Seeing the reluctance to help by the judges and the regional organizers, they spoke to Nationals. They sent emails, videos, and a recording of the final round where everyone, including other judges, believed Olivero’s team should have won. “When talking to regionals, it was badly run and they did not care to hear us. We tried to complain to the national organization. They failed us.” In response to this injustice Olviero’s felt, she strived to somehow fix the issue. She exhausted the options she had to complain and create a reform within the organization. “What’s the best way to do things? Compete. I’m a very competitive person in all my life. So let’s make something else. Maybe it will make them adapt to our standards because we’ll do their better than they are. Of course, it’s a long term project but it happens.” 

     Applied Ethics Championship is driven with the core beliefs of ethics. “I think we become better people when we try. I think we become better people when we build better things. I think that’s the whole point of studying ethics. You’re going to become better because you’re going to think about it and it is going to give you better ideas. So AEC was that. A good idea to hopefully make better ideas.”