Events

Kontak Article: Our WSC Experience (by Indira, Marsha, and Raynna)

“In second place for Senior Team Debate, from Global Jaya School, TEAM 268.” The crowd went wild and so did we, jumping, screaming, and running. That moment will go down as one of the best memories that we as a team had. After 2 days of rigorous academia, our hard work paid off when we were called on stage to receive our awards. That was a glimpse of how our regional round at the World Scholars Cup went. Happy, stressful, dizzy, and exciting are the words that can describe it the best.

The World Scholar’s Cup is an academic program that has brought students from various countries together. In 2019, the program took Global Jaya Students to compete in Sydney, Hague, and New Haven, specifically at the famous Yale University. After a few years of hiatus due to the pandemic, students from all over Jakarta are being called out again to participate. It all begins in the regional round in August 2022.

The World Scholar’s Cup consists of three rounds. Starting at the Regional Round in Jakarta, to the Global Round in a chosen country, and the Tournament of Champions at the famous Ivy League school. The competition consists of debating, Collaborative Writing, the Scholar’s Challenge, and the Scholar’s Bowl. When joining, you will immerse yourself in six highly compelling subject areas, which are Arts and Music, Science and Technology, Literature and Media, History, Social Studies, and Special Areas. For the rest of the season, the curriculum will be your ultimate guidepost in all the activities offered.

Debating and the Scholar’s Bowl are done as a team. During debates, your team will either be assigned to the affirmative or the negative side which will determine your stance on a motion that you have only 15 minutes to prepare for. The bowl is like a massive Kahoot where you work with your team (and sometimes even the other scholars there!) to answer the questions on the screen.

Collaborative Writing and the Scholar’s Challenge are done individually. In Collaborative Writing, you collaborate with your team to come up with an idea for your writing before you go on to create your own piece. Lastly, the Scholar’s Challenge is a multiple choice test that consists of 120 questions, and given the one-hour time limit, you would need to answer two questions a minute! (We promise, it is very doable).

There are 5 teams in total that went to the regional round despite only knowing that it is happening 2 weeks before the event. There were 2 junior teams and 3 senior teams.

Balancing WSC practice, studying the WSC curriculum, and doing all our school work was quite taxing, but the payoff was truly gratifying as we received great results! Out of the entire senior division, we got ninth place as a team overall, fourth place in Team Writing, and (arguably our most prominent achievement) second place in Team Debate! We also qualified for the Global Round in Vietnam as a champion qualifier which, after some not-so-careful consideration, we have decided to attend as well with the rest of the Global Jaya students!

The bigger the round, the spicier it gets, as you’ll get to experience the renowned Scholar’s Scavenger Hunt with people from different countries, the ball, and the cultural fair.

Though the World Scholar’s Cup has already started and it is too late to join this year, we hope that you will participate in it next year! Apart from it helping enrich your portfolio, the experience will give you an unforgettable, once in a lifetime experience filled with many laughs, tears, and alpacas!