In November 2019, Jade, Asha and Asmita from Year 10T competed in the Tournament of Champions, World Scholar's Cup, which was held at Yale University. The following write-up is their account of their incredible learning journey.

At school, learning is seen as a necessity. However, we would like to share with you a journey. Our journey. One in which we learned that learning is meant to be celebrated.

It all started in late 2018, when two people came to our school to introduce us to an academic competition of sorts. They called it the World Scholars Cup (WSC). They promised us much more than education. They promised us a global platform in which we could meet and engage with other people around our age. It was more than just some competition, however. It was an entirely unique experience. Our words would not do justice to it.

The four main events for which WSC is known as a competition are : Debate, Collaborative Writing, the Scholars Challenge and the Scholars Bowl. They have their own syllabus, which changes with every season (a syllabus that does not include math, of course). Besides these, at the Global Rounds and the Tournament of Champions (ToCs), there are added events, like the Scholars Scavenge, Scholars Ball and the Cultural Fair.

Throughout 2019, we immersed ourselves in the qualifying rounds, first in KL and then in Sydney. Our aim was to qualify for the Tournament of Champions, which is held in Yale University, USA annually. And we did!

Was it easy? No, definitely not. Did we enjoy it? OF COURSE! It was definitely worth all the extreme jet lag. There really is so much to love about the experience, putting aside the fact that we got to meet real live alpacas. The feeling was unparalleled. Embracing different cultures, sharing knowledge and just overall making so many memories.

Our experience competing? Well we were terrified, to say the least. But the results were unexpected. Winning two out of three debates, writing on different topics (science, literature and music), yet managing to correlate to each other and help out. And when we saw our names on that list, for best team writing, at one of the highest positions globally, we were dumbfounded. Nevertheless, we managed to stumble up onto the stage and take our medals.
We walked out of Woolsey Hall changed people; better, improved versions of ourselves. We walked out of there with new friends, with new learning. Possibly the most valuable thing we learnt from this is how much one really must cherish learning.

It ended, 3 rounds, almost 9 months of preparation, around 20 days of competing and approximately 41 medals and 1 trophy later we returned to Malaysia. The year and the season had flown by, before one could even say alpaca. And what do you know? We survived.
Work of Jade, Asha & Asmita 10T,
Winners at WSC 2019 Tournament of Champions