Young Sheldon's latest episode reveals yet another difference between the show's version of its titular character and his The Big Bang Theory counterpart. CBS' long-running sitcom may have ended in 2019 on an emotional note after Jim Parsons' decision to exit the project, but Sheldon's story continues through the spin-off prequel. Young Sheldon season 4 tackles the socially-inept genius' first year of college.
Sheldon adjusted to his new environment at East Texas Tech, despite a challenging first few days: his orientation day didn't go according to plan, and Sheldon had to deal with Dr. Sturgis' abrupt transfer to a different workplace. It didn't help that learning Philosophy resulted in him suffering an existential crisis. With all that behind him, Sheldon was again thriving in school — he even became Doctor Linkletter's lab assistant, which had its fair share of challenges. That said, his newfound attachment to his professor was deemed unhealthy after he started hanging out with him too much.
In the Young Sheldon episode titled "A Pager, A Club, And A Cranky Bag of Wrinkles," Sheldon's attachment to Dr. Linkletter prompted Sheldon's mother, Mary to intervene. That's where the idea of him joining a college club came about — something that she was initially hesitant about but ultimately decided it was worth a shot. Sheldon picked the most interesting organizations to consider joining, including Chess Club and Sci-Fi Club, but passed on them; the final one was Debate Club, which he also decided against. While its leader seemed a little too slow for Sheldon, it's still shocking that he walked away from it considering how much he loved debating just about anyone in The Big Bang Theory.
As someone who enjoys proving other people wrong, Sheldon was perfect for the Debate Club. He demonstrated his skills during his application, and given how efficient he was in citing his points, he should've been a sure recruit. That said, even without the Young Sheldon scene, long-time fans of The Big Bang Theory would know that Sheldon would thrive in the Debate Club. As seen in the show's 12-year-run, he has a knack for making valid arguments and backing them up with data. Although he didn't participate in any formal debate contest during Sheldon's years in CalTech, he liked to engage in any kind of discourse, particularly the ones that he had strong opinions on — like science and nerdy movies. Sometimes, he'd even participate in the discussions about mundane things.
Even in Young Sheldon, Sheldon is known to already stand his ground on certain topics, but due to his age, his thoughts on some things are still volatile. Potentially being on the Debate Club in college could explain how exactly he became the master debater that he was in The Big Bang Theory. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case as he decided to come up with his own organization instead, originally going to be a Professor Proton-focused one but — due to the lack of members — it changed to being a Silent Readers group.