World Scholar’s Cup – Bangkok Round 2022

Highlights from our 15 World Scholars:

• Bangkok Prep students collected over 90 medals!
• Frances B in Year 12 was the Champion Scholar for the Senior Division
• Guy B in Year 8 was a Top Scholar & Champion Scholar for the Junior Division
• Sarin, Pyncha & Frances ranked #3 in the Global Qualifiers
• All students have been invited to participate in the Global Round in September

JUNIOR DIVISION

SENIOR DIVISION

Student Experiences:

By Frances B (Y12 Student)

Arguably the most heated part of the World Scholar’s Cup is the debate showcase – where debaters, selected based on their “wow” factor – are put on stage to engage in an hour-long discussion around a motion. This year, the motion was that “we should forgive people for making the same mistakes twice,” fitting with the WSC theme of ‘Mistakes’ this year. I, Frances, (Y12) was chosen to represent Bangkok Prep as the third speaker of the negative side, where I was joined by 3 other students from various different schools. After 15 minutes of intense preparation, the argument began – starting with strong points proposed by the affirmative team.

It can definitely be assumed from the ‘woops’ and cheers from the audience that it was a thoroughly entertaining debate to participate in, and watch. The debate was concluded with the panel of judges’ feedback (also composed of a group of scholars) and the announcement of the affirmative team’s win. Needless to say, the debate showcase was a fantastic experience for all of those involved.

By Pyncha S (Y12 Student)

The scholar’s bowl involved collaboration, rapid thinking and teamwork! Each time competed in a giant game of a multiple choice quiz – like Kahoot! We were tested on a wide range of topics, from music to science, across the World Scholar’s Cup specification. It was a very exciting competition, and we all enjoyed it very much!

By Sarin W (Y12 Student)

The World Scholar’s Cup: A 3 person team competition composed of the collaborative writing, debate, the challenge, and the bowl.

There are six main subjects splitting into categories of Literature & Media, Science & Technology, Art & Music, Social Studies, Special Area, and History.

The subjects aren’t like anything we learn in school; they could be about mythology, gaming or even the black market. Some compete for fun, for medals, or… for alpacas.

With enthusiastic staff, friendly participants and millions of bad jokes, participants would all agree that it is a unique competition, diverging from other stressful academic competitions; as they say, “It is not a competition but a celebration of learning.”

The WSC values participation and entertainment while still managing to be highly competitive. From reunions to new friendships and rivalry, the people of the WSC are always very friendly… debating excluded. The competition focuses on the application of knowledge in the real world instead of memorising facts. Instead of being asked what Carl Sagan stated, we would be asked to choose an image he would most likely use. In this particular example, two of the pictures were of the “red light, green light” girl from Squid Game and Kibutsuji Muzan from Demon Slayer. The WSC is one of the most enjoyable events I’ve ever participated in.

By Thaksini C (Y12 Student)

The most independent event across both days: the Scholar’s Challenge.

This event is done in exam conditions – scholars have to sit in silence for 60 minutes while battling the intense, 120 question long multiple choice paper. The paper is based on the subjects set by the WSC team and covers the topics of: history, science, art and music, literature, social studies and “special area”.

As medals are awarded for each subject, teams tend to divide the 6 subjects amongst themselves so each scholar prepares for 2 subjects each. Yet, some scholars may choose to go all out and revise for all 6 subjects while others may decide to test their luck and go in with zero revision.

I, Krishna, prepared for art and music as well as history and received a gold medal for both subjects. This multiple choice “exam” was very interesting to me as instead of only having the choice to fill in one bubble we could fill up to 5! (The more bubbles you fill in, the less marks you’ll receive if one of the bubbles you filled in was correct.)

To succeed at this challenge, I highly recommend scholars to do prior research. A lot of the content detailed in the WSC syllabus is truly interesting and will never be taught at school. From learning about historical coups and leaders to gangsters and fictional characters, this event became one of my favourites to prepare for!

By Moe S (Y12 Student)

Amongst the variety of events in the World Scholars Cup, the team debate is notably the most popular. Scholars must consider three elements during this event – style, structure, and content – whilst simultaneously planning their speeches in a tight time frame.

From my experience in the WSC, the team debate was the event I was the most nervous for. Given that this was my first ever experience, the idea of having three unseen motions, with only 15 minutes of preparation time for each was indeed overwhelming. Nonetheless, regardless of my nerves beforehand, I thoroughly enjoyed the debate and its dramatic nature.

Furthermore, the team debate was also a learning experience — though this event undoubtedly requires “teamwork”, it also requires a great degree of independence. Being forced to utilize and apply these skills under pressure definitely allowed me to come out of this event as a stronger independent student.

Overall, the WSC was a fantastic experience, and I strongly encourage every student to participate.

By Patsucha J (Y12 Student)

I must say, one of the most creative activities in the World Scholar’s Cup is collaborative writing. Even though there is the word ‘collaborative’, we are required to write our essays independently with the help of teammates to check our work only during the last 15 minutes. We were given 6 questions / statements from 6 different subjects and we had to choose to write about one of the subjects. The format of our essay was broadly open where we can choose to write a persuasive speech, email, recipe, diary, etc.

From my experience, collaborative writing was one of the most freely opened tasks for us to use our imagination. I truly enjoyed it since we were able to adapt and link the specification of the WSC’s topics to be included in our essay. The WSC was such a great way for us to gain new knowledge about the topics which are not covered in schools and I strongly believe it helped all of us to become more confident individuals.