Last July, WASSers Quoc Minh, Khanh An, and Gia An successfully won the “golden ticket” to enter the final round at the 2023 World Scholar’s Cup. This is an outstanding achievement, deserving of the hard labor that went into its preparation.
Outstanding performance of WASSers at the 2023 World Scholar’s Cup
The World Scholar’s Cup (WSC) is a famous academic team competition held annually for students worldwide. With the participation of thousands of students from more than 60 countries and territories, WSC is not only a valuable competition for students to express themselves and challenge their knowledge in diverse fields but also an opportunity for them to exchange cultures and meet scholars from all over the world.
“Coming to the competition, Scholars need to have comprehensive knowledge in History, Science, Technology, Music, Literature, etc. in order to perform well. This knowledge can be found in lectures at school and in real-life situations, and this is one of the biggest reasons why I decided to enter the competition.” – Gia Ân, WASSer at WSC 2023 stated.
At the Global Round held in Seoul this year, Team 324 of WASSers Tran Quoc Minh, Mai Vu Gia An, and Vo Trieu Khanh An had an excellent performance, bringing home many major awards for both individual and team categories. They successfully won a place in the final round of the Tournament of Champions, which will take place in November at Yale University (USA).
The team’s final piece, a preparation process full of effort and perseverance
The opportunity to participate in the 2023 World Scholar’s Cup competition came to Gia An by serendipity; she agreed to Khanh An and Quoc Minh’s invitation when their team needed one more member to participate in the Global Round during the time it took to urgently prepare for the upcoming competition. To have the best preparation for the competition, they spent the entire summer of 2023 improving their knowledge every day. They have thoroughly reviewed multiple-choice questions, videos, debates, articles, and daily Kahoot quizzes. There were times when they appeared to be giving up, but they persisted in encouraging one another to attempt together and return to preparation. At that time, their minds were only focused on one goal, which was to perform well in the competition.
The tense moments in the competition round and the emotional outburst when obtaining results
On July 11th, 2023, the three finally arrived in Seoul, South Korea. Excitement, nervousness, and enthusiasm were the emotions that the students felt as soon as they entered the first day of competition. The nervousness before the exam, the concentration, the best efforts while taking the exam, and the feeling of excitement and relief after completing the exam are like realistic movies appearing in front of them, all of which are invaluable and beautiful.
On July 18th, the journey in Korea of Western Australian students temporarily ended with the final event: the Closing Ceremony. At that moment, the students looked back on their summer journey together and witnessed their success. It is not only a feeling of pride and happiness for having done their best but also a sense of gratitude to the teachers and families for accompanying and supporting them throughout the process.
Tournament of Champions at Yale University
“Spending two months of summer practicing together, sharing happy, sad, and desperate moments together is not easy, but it is an extremely valuable experience.” – Gia An, WASSer at WSC 2023 said.
They have started their journey at such a “young” age, so sometimes they cannot avoid making mistakes. After all the difficulties, all the efforts they have put in are truly worth the results. In the end, what they receive is not only knowledge, knowing how to debate, and writing a thesis, but also the process of teamwork, lessons about helping, understanding each other, and many other things. That will be the foundation for each individual to become a more perfect version of themselves.
“At the end of the Global Round in Seoul, I am very grateful to my parents, teachers, and Western Australian International School for supporting me on my trip to Korea for the first time.” – Khanh An, WASSER shares on WSC 2023
Although the trip to Korea ended, it also opened a new journey to the Tournament of Champions at Yale University (USA). This promises to be a memorable experience filled with new knowledge and friends. The Final Round of the World Scholar’s Cup 2023 will be both an opportunity and a challenge for WASSers, as the scale of the competition has reached a new level. The difficulty of the exams has been upgraded, and the competitors are all excellent representatives of more than 60 countries and territories. Hopefully, Team 324 of Quoc Minh, Khanh An, and Gia An will show their best in the Final Round and achieve the best results.
