I will be writing about my journey towards the final and most prestigious round of the World Scholar's Cup, held at the Yale University, Connecticut, USA.
In this season of the World Scholar's Cup, I participated and qualified for 3 different rounds. The Regional Round, The Global Round and the most recent one, the Tournament of Champions (ToC).
In the summer of 2019, I got the opportunity to travel all the way to Sydney for the Global Round of the World Scholar's Cup. The experience there was tremendous! Meeting people from different parts of the world and collaborating with them in the scavenge to debating, writing and performing many other events at such a high level was remarkable!
Competing with all the qualifiers of the regional round was challenging. I won a total of 11 medals, 10 Gold and 1 Silver. I felt proud representing my school Winchester, Jebel Ali in the second-largest global this year. This round has been my best accomplishment so far and it was further extraordinary when my team qualified for the Tournament of Champions at the prestigious University of Yale.
Further, it was splendid when I got recognised for my Global Round achievements in the GEMS Education Magazine's October 2019 edition. It really motivated me to study harder for the ToC.
After all that, the time had come for an even tougher round. the time period of a month flew by, and with a blink of an eye, I was headed for destination USA.
In the USA, I had an unforgettable time mixed with fun and academics. I participated in the Tournament of Champions held in one of the best Ivy League universities... The Yale University. The event was planned across various locations of Yale and we got to meet and interact with few of the undergraduate students.
The experience was extraordinary! Walking in the campus of Yale at the age of 13 and competing with the best of the best from 6 different global rounds, was truly enlightening. Being amidst such a diverse group of scholars from 64 countries and collaborating with them in all stages of the event from the scavenge to the debate at an unimaginable level was stupendous!
Competing with all the great minds was challenging and motivating. I won a total of 8 medals, 5 Gold and 3 Silver for various different events, my best being ranked 82nd out of 1500+ junior scholars as an individual writer. Also, some of my highlight accolades were the overall scholar ranking of 101 and debating individual of rank 134. Also, I achieved the school top scholar award.
Over and above the World Scholar's Cup event, I also got the opportunity to visit the campus and take a tour of 2 more Ivy League Universities: Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. All these tours were held by real time students on campus. Each of the universities were different in their own way. I was most impressed by the rich history behind the making of each and everything on campus.
I learnt about all the different courses that Harvard have to offer and the loads of extra curricular activities that they are included in. Also, the vast number of varsity sports teams they have. The campus was also very rich in heritage. For example the story behind the statue of John Harvard and each of the residential dorms. It was just so enriching.
Nonetheless, MIT was absolutely flabbergasting. I love the fact that everything that is included in the MIT campus has a very scientific reasoning behind it. The campus is so diverse showcasing works of different students and famous people. Also, MIT isn't only about science and math, students can also follow their passion such as music, art or theatrics.
Visiting the USA and having such a variety of experiences was really mind blowing. It was one of the best times I have ever had and I hope to have more of them.
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