On a wind-swept morning of March 15th, the tension in the air was tangible as our sleep-deprived competitors feverishly discussed their notes amongst their team-members after an arduous week of diligent research. The highly anticipated first day of the World Scholars cup was to take place at the statuesque yet beautiful Sunmarke School.
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An opening ceremony commenced at the beginning of the event. Students from an assemblage of schools were introduced to the hosts and the motives of the competition, briefed upon the rules and procedures and skimmed through the timetable. After the jocose and welcoming introduction, the junior teams were sent for a taxing round of team debates, while the senior teams moved on to collaborative writing and, later the Scholars Challenge. After the zealous rounds were completed, Scholars had a quick lunch break. It was now that the senior teams debated and the junior teams moved on to Collaborative writing and then to the Scholars Challenge. The spirits of our aspiring Scholars were high as the sky progressively turned to darker shades of watered down arsenic-blue ink. The crowd erupted into excited conversations as the first day had finally ended.
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The second day had the same air of anxiety as the first; it was to be held in The Indian High School. After a quick introduction, the entire first half of the day was devoted to the Scholars Bowl. After much screaming and celebratory cheering, the tizzy event was over. The Debate Showcase was next, the best debaters were chosen from the delegations. A team was assembled, while the nervous selections quickly prepared for their awaited debates. After extremely intense negotiations, the winning side was announced. The tension evaporated as the atmosphere advanced into a light-hearted one.
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Next was the Scholars show, the event was a conglomeration of classic talents, such as playing the guitar and more absurd ones, such as a contestant rapping to Viva la Vida as a crowd aggressively performed ‘Fortnite dances’ in the background, it was a very confusing act. It was then time for the most awaited part of the day: the award ceremony. The entire Dubai Scholars delegation was selected for the Global rounds. Our delegation returned with glittering gold and silver medals, polished trophies and wonderful experiences.
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The events were as follows:
Collaborative Writing: Teams were given time to research upon a topic they picked. After the time limit, the teams had to move on to the main task of writing their work, which could be done in any format. The teams could later edit their works, with the help of their team-mates. This event was personally significantly easier due to the large time frame and structure of the procedure. However, a challenge was not being able to use your devices for research purposes after the allotted time for research had ended, team members also couldn’t converse with their team-mates apart from the allotted time at the end.
Team Debate: This was 3 rounds of formal debates. Teams competed and adhered to the World Scholars Team Debate format. The only preparation needed for this event is reading and understanding the official format, prior to the event. Team members must also be able to work under time-restraints, pressure and lack of research (on the internet). I recommend forming a team consisting of speakers strong in either introductions, conveying details or rebuttals. When debating avoid loose ends, as they can be used against your team.
Scholars Challenge: This challenge is very similar to the Scholars Bowl. However, it is individual and done on paper. Good preparation of the topics is needed to excel at this challenge.
Scholars Bowl: This challenge was personally my favorite event. It’s arguably the most fun yet adrenaline-inducing event. This is a team challenge, and is a set of questions that test your general knowledge and research. Teams need to thoroughly research on their topics, we recommend dividing the topics amongst your team. A research binder of all your topics is also extremely helpful.
This event, was overall an extremely memorable one, I highly encourage you to participate should you get the opportunity to. It is great exposure and will defiantly improve your public speaking, writing, GK and researching skills and will leave you with cherishable memories, you also get an Alpaca, which is the mascot of the World Scholars Cup.
Team Debate: This was 3 rounds of formal debates. Teams competed and adhered to the World Scholars Team Debate format. The only preparation needed for this event is reading and understanding the official format, prior to the event. Team members must also be able to work under time-restraints, pressure and lack of research (on the internet). I recommend forming a team consisting of speakers strong in either introductions, conveying details or rebuttals. When debating avoid loose ends, as they can be used against your team.
Scholars Challenge: This challenge is very similar to the Scholars Bowl. However, it is individual and done on paper. Good preparation of the topics is needed to excel at this challenge.
Scholars Bowl: This challenge was personally my favorite event. It’s arguably the most fun yet adrenaline-inducing event. This is a team challenge, and is a set of questions that test your general knowledge and research. Teams need to thoroughly research on their topics, we recommend dividing the topics amongst your team. A research binder of all your topics is also extremely helpful.
This event, was overall an extremely memorable one, I highly encourage you to participate should you get the opportunity to. It is great exposure and will defiantly improve your public speaking, writing, GK and researching skills and will leave you with cherishable memories, you also get an Alpaca, which is the mascot of the World Scholars Cup.
WSC was a great experience; I learnt new things and even got a chance to enhance my communication skills!”
– Hiya Shroff
WSC was an amazing experience for me, as we had students of different nationalities and schools, and we had to embrace our ‘awkwardness’ in order to interact with our opponents during the debate rounds. This greatly enhanced my ‘debating’ and my ‘communication’ skills.”
- Elaina Govind
Written by: Aaliyah Vaz
Edited by: Lamya Butt
Photos by: Lamya Butt
Web Designed by: Tanya Regi
Edited by: Lamya Butt
Photos by: Lamya Butt
Web Designed by: Tanya Regi