Six months ago, 21 students were selected to take part in the universally renowned World Scholars’ Cup organised by Yale University. The international competition is renowned across North America, South East Asia and Europe as intensely academic and is regarded by US universities in particular as the ‘deal-breaker’ when selecting candidates for competitive university courses!Seven teams of three were formed and every Tuesday there would be a different challenge awaiting us to prepare ourselves for the regional round which we went to in Dubai before Easter. World Scholars’ Cup‘To inspire a global community of future scholars and leaders’

World Scholars’ Cup consists of 4 elements: Collaborative Writing Scholars’ Challenge Debating Scholars’ Bowl

Collaborative Writing“Debate with the power of your pen”Each team was presented with six statements that came from each of the different subject areas for which they had to argue for or against. We had 25 minutes to collaborate with our team members and research about the topic. The actual writing procedure was a mere 50 minutes, the catch was that in this time we weren’t allowed to interact with our partners. A final 12 minutes was allocated for the teams to discuss and edit the essays to produce the most persuasive essays possible.

Scholar’s ChallengeThis was the least interesting challenge until we brought home the medals.The Scholar’s Challenge might look like any other multiple-choice test, but it's not a test of what you remember: it’s a test of what you understand. We applied our knowledge of the different aspects of the theme to answer questions across all six subjects, from art to science.

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DebatingThe debate topics were impromptu and teamwork was essential to defeat the opposing team. Our debate proposals ranged over a variety of subject, whether it was based on psychological disorders or about if flappy birds represented real life, we were up to the challenge.

Scholar’s BowlThis event was the most enjoyable. Clickers were distributed to the teams and questions were proposed on the huge projector before us. There were clips from movies, trailers, pictures of celebrities, ancient artworks and you name it. It wasn’t all about speed. It was about accuracy and applying our knowledge in the allocated time (30 seconds per question).

Our ExperienceThe first day was terrifying. Truthfully, we hadn’t expected such a large turnout. There were kids streaming left, right and centre from multiple schools and backgrounds. Everyone seemed to emanate an aura of confidence, which, as expected, managed to unsettle our scholars. Despite the rocky first impression, we quickly caught on to the friendly nature of the competition and lost our initial nervousness.

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The day turned out to be extremely successful as every single team from BSC won at least one of their three debates while at the same time managed to complete the individual tasks to satisfaction.

The second day was the final day of World Scholar’s Cup and sadly passed by in a flash. It began with the Scholar’s Bowl and was followed up by the Talent Show, which resulted in a lot of entertainment and deprived us of our disappointment that it was nearly over. The day ended with the award ceremony, which was the happiest moment of the trip as it was completely unexpected that we would be so victorious.

World Scholar’s Cup was an absolutely incredible experience. The people we met and the knowledge we gained was invaluable. Shopping at the Emirates and Dubai mall; standing on the 124th floor of the tallest building in the world; casual chats with the taxi drivers; it all played a part in making this an unforgettable trip.

By-Kiara, Alifya and Kishori

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World Scholars Cup – Achievement RoleTeam 1 – Qualified for the Global Round in Singapore Akeel Vitarna - 1st place Scholars’ Challenge – History

- 10th place Challenge overall- 6th place Team Challenge- Top 10% : Challenge- Special Area- Top 10%: Challenge – Social Studies

Dilshan Dias - Top 10% : Challenge – Literature- 6th place Team Challenge

Rohan Joesph - Honor Roll: Challenge- Top 10% : Challenge – Literature- Honor Roll: Challenge – Social Studies- Honor Roll: Overall Individual

Team 2- Qualified for the Global Round in Singapore Ranudi Lelwala - 2nd place Overall (out of over 600 participants!!!)

- 10th place Team Debate- 10th place Individual Debate- Honour Roll: Challenge – Social Studies- 7th place Challenge- School Top Scorer- Top 10% : Challenge- Literature- Top 10%: Challenge - History- Top 10%: Challenge – Special Area

Prisha Satwani - Honour Roll: Writing- 10th place – Team Debate

Udara Kularatne - 10th place – Team Debate

Team 3 - Qualified for the Global Round in Singapore Theekshana Nawinne - Top 15%: Challenge – Literature

Peshala Edirisooriya - Top 15%: Challenge – Special Area

Riviru Pupelewatta- - Top 15%: Challenge – Special Area

Team 4Janith De Silva - Top 25%: Challenge – Literature

Maneth Warnapala - Top 10%: Challenge – Special Area- Top 10%: Challenge – Social Studies- Top 25%: Challenge – Individual

Shamly M.R.M - Top 45%: Challenge – Special Area

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Team 5- Qualified for the Global Round in Singapore Oneli Siribaddana - 1st place Challenge – History

- 1st place Challenge- Honour Roll: Challenge – Literature- Honour Roll: Overall Individual- Honour Roll: Challenge –The Arts- Honour Roll: Challenge – Team Challenge- Top 10% : Challenge- Social Studies- Top 10%: Challenge - History

Neha Jacob - Honour Roll: Challenge – Team Challenge- Top 25% Indivdual Debate

Vidu Chandrasena - Honour Roll: Challenge – Team Challenge- 8th place – Writing - Top 15%: Challenge – History- Top 15%: Challenge – Literature- Top 15%: Challenge – Special Area

Team 6- Qualified for the Global Round in Singapore Gurman Singh - 7th place Team Challenge

- Honour Roll: Team Writing- Honour Roll: Team Debate- Top 15%: Challenge – Special Area- Top 15%: Challenge - Science

Sachith Karunasekera - 7th place Team Challenge- 10th place Challenge- Honour Roll: Challenge: History- Honour Roll: Team Writing- Honour Roll: Team Debate- Honour Roll: Overall Individual- Top 10%: Challenge – Social Studies- Top 15%: Individual – Writing

Aryaman Reddi - 7th place Team Challenge- 10th place Individual Total- Honour Roll: Challenge- Honour Roll: Debate- Honour Roll: Team Writing- Honour Roll: Team Debate- Top 10%: Challenge – Special Area- Top 10%:Challenge – Social Studies

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Team 7 - Qualified for the Global Round in Singapore Team 7 were made of Year 10 Student who were competing in the Senior Division against predominantly 6th Form and IB Diploma Programme Students!

School PrizeRookie Prize WinnersAlifya Sohail - Top 20%: Challenge – Science

- Honour Roll – Team Bowl- Top 30% Team Writing

Kiara Perera - Honour Roll – Writing- School Top Scorer- Honour Roll – Team Bowl- Top 20%: Challenge – Science- Top 5%: Challenge - Literature

Kishori Opatha - Top 20%: Challenge – Literature- Honour Roll – Team Bowl- Top 30%: Team Writing

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