By Riyom

The World Scholar’s Cup abbreviated as WSC is a competition that consists of four main events. These events are debate, collaborative writing, scholar’s challenge, and the scholar’s bowl. This competition covers six subject areas which are literature, art and music, science and technology, social studies, history, and a special area that is determined based on the theme of the year. You will need to make a team of three people because it’s a great experience to be with a team and work collaboratively. There are regional rounds in more than 65 countries each year. Students that perform the best in their regional round are chosen to go to the global round with people coming from all around the world. I recently joined the Jakarta regional round held at Sinarmas World Academy and it was an excellent and memorable experience for me.

First of all, we started off with debates. I would say that the debates were my favorite compared to all the other events as I am good at debating, and I enjoy debating really much. In our first debate, we were a bit nervous because it was our first time to do it. We tried our best and won that debate in the end. I was happy and got a lot of confidence to move forward and do better. Then, we went on to win all of our debates. I was really proud of myself and my team for doing amazing in the debates. This happiness and excitement also got us a kickstart to the other events after the debate.

Secondly, we did the collaborative writing. In the collaborative writing, there are a few topics for you to choose from. Once you and your teammates have chosen the topic, you will need to discuss with them and plan on what you will write. In the next 40 minutes, you will need to write and be done by the end of the 40 minutes. I chose a topic about modern technology and wrote an essay about how it’s going to improve and get better in the future. My essay was six-paragraphs long, and I had to write quick to finish the essay in the next 40 minutes. Once I wrote my essay, I felt that I did pretty well and was also satisfied with what I wrote.

After the collaborative writing, it was the scholar’s challenge. Before the regional round, I thought that the scholar’s challenge would not be that hard, but I was wrong. Personally, I would say that the scholar’s challenge was the hardest one out of all the events. You need a lot of practice for that, and to get most of the questions right, you will need to study hard on the various subject areas of WSC. I think I should have practiced more for the scholar’s challenge. Once I gave my answer sheet, I was not sure if I did well or not. Overall, the scholar’s challenge was still a good experience for me and I kind of understood what type of questions usually come, so I can prepare and practice harder next time.

In regional rounds, there are two days of competition. For us, on the first day, it was the debates, collaborative writing, and scholar’s challenge. Once the scholar’s challenge was done, I returned home pretty happy because I won all my debates. I had a good night sleep and was ready for the next day. The day started off with the last competitive event, the scholar’s bowl. In the scholar’s bowl, each team gets a clicker and you will need to click on your answer option using that. It was my first time to experience the scholar’s bowl, and was super hyped to be with my team and get the right answers in the scholar’s bowl. It was fun in the scholar’s bowl, and my team got most of the questions correct. We even learnt many new things we did not know such as when you get the answer wrong, you can learn a new thing by checking the correct answer.

Lastly, it was the closing and award ceremony. There were many medals and trophies that were given out for each subject area and event. I got many medals especially in the debate and collaborative writing. Our team also got a trophy for being a top scorer of going to the global round. Those moments were feeling unreal and we were thinking this is some sort of dream. We could not even believe that it was happening. I think our hard work paid off and we prepared well for the regional round. Our friends, parents, and teachers were really proud of us. I would say that the closing ceremony is going to be one of the most memorable experiences in WSC.

In conclusion, WSC was an excellent experience for me, and I enjoyed a lot as it was my first time. Thanks to the World Scholar’s Cup. I have discovered a skill of debating that I didn’t even know about. I even became more confident in my writing and how to write fast in a limited time. Joining WSC has motivated me to practice hard and learn about different subjects that I would have not even known about. For all this, I thank my supportive parents, friends, and teachers for believing in me and helping me practice so I can have great results and an amazing experience.