Masterminds

By: Evey Mok

As a freshman who had no experience with competitive trivia, I never expected that I would end up reading more than fifteen classics for the sake of a single club, but here I am three years later, happy and proud that I’ve read each and every one. The single club in question? Masterminds.

Masterminds is a charming club full of talented, knowledgeable students, plus an amazing club advisor, Mr. Dickerson, who have developed a mild obsession with John Milton’s Paradise Lost, as well as various other seemingly unexpected, yet important, trivia facts. The club competes monthly against other schools in the league—a group of schools in Niskayuna’s area—then, if Masterminds wins, the club competes against schools in Albany, then in New York State. Each of the teams, both JV and Varsity, compete with the same question sets written by National Academic Quiz Tournaments. These questions include topics such as history, math, science, literature, art, pop culture, sports, and mythology. Masterminds is very successful and consistently reaches playoffs for the Albany leagues, and has even made it to states and won. This success has aided the club in getting a bus starting late into last school year—previously, parents drove students to all matches. Last year, the club worked together, with the support and cooperation of parents, to send emails to faculty members involved in deciding on the school’s budget, and gained access to much-needed transportation! Interactions with others doesn’t end here—since Masterminds and Chess are organized by the same organization, members often share a bus with the chess kids, and many Masterminds members are in both clubs!

Masterminds meets every Tuesday after school, and practices consist of a speed check and a game which is played with the same rules as a normal match. Mr. Dickerson reads tossups from a quizbowl packet, and we can buzz in when we think we know the answer. Bonus points are awarded for speed! Each tossup is followed by three bonuses for the team that answered the tossup correctly. Practices are always fun, and students often learn something new. Sometimes, new information or a wrong answer will turn into an inside joke (ask any Masterminds club member about Paradise Lost and “brekekekekecoaxcoax” or about “dog honey” and “mouse milk”). The club is a fun, supportive environment that one can enjoy even while having absolutely no idea what any of the answers to the questions are.

As mentioned earlier, the questions consist of a wide variety of topics. All knowledge is valuable in Masterminds, no matter how insignificant it may seem. I’ve heard many people tell me that they’re not smart, therefore they wouldn’t be a good fit for Masterminds. This is a common misconception assumed by many the moment they hear that the club does competitive trivia. The “not smart enough for this club” label is completely wrong. Masterminds is a club that you can grow with no matter where your starting point is. It could be an interest, or a hobby, or maybe even something random you learned at school that happens to be the topic of a question that will help the team win a match. Masterminds is a club that can bring value to any and all knowledge in your possession.

So if you’re a mathemagician, science genius, history king, sports fan (we need more sports fans please), mythology legend, music maestro, artistic adventurer, or just a lover of knowledge, come give Masterminds a chance to pique your interest!