The prestigious World Scholar’s Cup 2022 academic competition has officially concluded with impressive and proud achievements for the members of the Western Australian International School System (WASS).

The WASS Team participated in the Tournament of Champions at Yale University, USA, from November 10 to 16, with four members: Nguyen Tuong Anh Khoa, Ly Hai Minh, Tran Anh Khoi from class WA10A, and Phan Nhat Huy from class BWA8A.

“The Four” of WASS competed in the Team Debate, Scholar’s Challenge, Scholar’s Bowl, and Collaborative Writing. After intense competitions, with calmness, confidence, and excellent knowledge, WASSers won 9 gold medals, and 11 silver medals in individual competitions, along with numerous awards in team competitions. Even more honorably, Nguyen Tuong Anh Khoa once again represented Vietnam by raising the national flag during the traditional flag parade at WSC.

These proud achievements were certainly not gained effortlessly; the WASSers had to exchange for their tremendous efforts and hard work. Let’s listen to the stories and experiences of our four young men about their journey at this year’s World Scholar’s Cup!

“After months of training for the World Scholar’s Cup, the final round is finally here. It was a dream I thought I could never reach. But now, the opportunity is in front of me. World Scholar’s Cup: Tournament of Champions 2022. It’s been almost half a year since we started this journey, and now it marks the end of a long path filled with many lessons. After the Bangkok Global Round ended, I immediately focused on studying the subjects again, writing down the main points, because I knew the next round, the ToC, would be much more challenging. I summarized the main points of the subjects based on my understanding, along with links and ideas from various websites. Besides the six main areas, the organizers added a new “Booster Pack” for this ToC season to provide more information and make the competition even more exciting”.

Here are some tips for you: Usually, the format of the questions in the Scholars Bowl round will be more difficult, requiring you to think deeply, consider all connections, and find the answers. Also, the motions in the debates will be related to the topics studied in the WSC subjects. Most importantly, when writing essays, include as many relevant ideas from the topics you have studied as possible. This will help you increase your writing score.”

Phan Nhat Huy – 8A, Ba Huyen Thanh Quan Campus

“The competition took place over several days, but the actual tests were only held over two days. The remaining days were dedicated to connecting with other contestants through an activity called ‘Scavenger’s Hunt.’ I felt that we gave it our all, and the results were better than we expected. Overall, I think it was quite good.”

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The competition lasted for 5 days, although the main test days were only 2 days, following the opening ceremony. However, according to the tradition of the World Scholar’s Cup, these 5 days included a variety of activities, and some of them are worth noting. Among these was the “Scholar’s Scavenge” event. True to its name, it was essentially a scavenger hunt to find the best performer. Instead of just searching for specific items, we participated in various tasks and activities. All these points contributed to the overall score and served as the basis for a quite engaging networking activity.

Another example of recreational activities at the WSC is the scholars’ performance session, where volunteers take the stage to showcase their talents. Many talents were displayed, including some individuals who had not previously had the chance to show their abilities.

However, both of these activities would not be complete without the final activity, which is the Scholars Bowl round. Held just before the closing ceremony, it is considered a prelude to the awards ceremony that follows. Overall, it is truly a music festival, featuring a live DJ and an electrifying music experience, which I didn’t have during the competition in Bangkok.

Besides the recreational activities, the most important aspect is the competitions in the WSC.

First of all, there is the Scholar’s Challenge. Essentially, this round is a type of test presented in the form of puzzles, where scholars receive a paper test and our task is to fill in the blanks. It consists entirely of multiple-choice questions, and the content covers all six subjects in the curriculum. It is purely of multiple-choice questions, and the content covers all six areas in the curriculum. This year, our team’s performance in this section was satisfactory, with an improvement from our previous performance in the Bangkok round just a few months ago. However, there is still room for improvement.

Secondly, there is the Writing Challenge round. The second part of the team competition in the WSC is a different type of test, where participants are required to create a text based on a given prompt, with one prompt for each subject. Participants can choose to write in any style or format, and more creative approaches are encouraged. Our team’s writing performance was quite good, with one member earning a gold medal and another member bringing a silver medal.

Next is the Team Debate. It can be said that the debates are the most challenging of the four activities, with the entire team facing multiple other teams in three rounds. Our team performed very well and achieved impressive results; however, the opposing teams outperformed us in two of the three rounds, with the match-ups also leaning in their favor.

Finally, there is the Scholar’s Bowl, which is similar to a Kahoot game. The team’s performance in this round was also quite good.

Overall, it was an enjoyable experience and it provided me with many lessons and memories as someone who participated in this competition for the first time.”

Anh Khoa & Hai Minh – WA10A