The countdown has begun … One week left!
With the World Scholar’s Cup (WSC) Chiang Mai Regional Round just around the corner, students and teachers are preparing with passion and nerves. The PYD Post talked with a few participants and teachers to hear how they’re getting ready for one of the most academic and exciting events of the year.
For those unfamiliar, the World Scholar’s Cup is a global academic competition that brings students together to explore diverse subjects through debate, writing, quizzes, and teamwork. Centered around an annual theme, this year’s being “Reigniting the Future“, the WSC encourages curiosity, creativity, and collaboration — with plenty of alpacas and community spirit along the way.
For many students, this year marks their first time competing in the WSC. Yujoo (Y8), a first-time scholar, shared her thoughts:
“Since it’s my first time doing World Scholars, I’m very nervous, and I’m preparing for it a lot,” she said. “Our team is very strong, my teammates are smart. They’re so experienced, so I’m depending on them and I appreciate them a lot.”
She is looking forward to the collaborative writing challenge the most:
“That’s probably my most confident part,” she said. “Even though writing makes many people nervous, the WSC version is more creative. You can even include drawings and comedy!”
And finally, she smiled and said, “Fighting!” – a Korean expression meaning ‘You can do it!’
Kru Christine, vice principal and organiser of the WSC Chiang Mai Regional Round, is feeling the buzz too.
“I’m super excited,” she said. “I think this year’s WSC is going to be bigger than ever before. We even have 33 students coming from Malaysia. It’s the first time a school from Malaysia is joining our Chiang Mai Regional Round!”
She also highlighted an important change in this year’s rules:
“One of the three debates will now be done without any devices. It’ll be interesting to see how students adapt, especially since they’ve always been allowed to use devices before.”
Ace (Y10), another new scholar from Satit International Bilingual School in Chiang Mai, said:
“WSC is one of the events I look forward to the most — and stress about the most!”
Ace and her group also built an efficiency routine for WSC:
“Debate: Watching international debates and recording practice speeches. Bowl & Challenge: Creating personalised study notes and doing independent research. Writing: Reading books and writing stories to sharpen creativity and language skills.”
But Ace emphasises one often-overlooked aspect of collaborative writing:
“Collaboration is key. We focus on mock sessions to practice communication and how to best use the 15-minute planning time.”
As the days count down, whether it’s your first WSC or your fifth, the journey of teamwork, learning, and alpacas is one to remember. So sharpen those pencils, fine-tune those arguments, and get ready to make unforgettable and amazing memories.
See you next week at the World Scholar’s Cup – let the adventure begin!
(And if you’re wondering about the alpacas – they’re the WSC’s beloved mascots, symbolising curiosity, friendliness, and the joy of learning together!)
The PYD Post 