7 Reasons Why You Should Join World Scholar’s Cup This Year

Written by Claire Tippett and Joanné Scherman

You may think “oh great, another nerdy club”, but here’s seven reasons why you would regret not joining World Scholar’s Cup sooner.

1. You get an alpaca!

As the slogan for Scholar’s Cup says, “We’ll give you alpacas, and it’ll make sense”. They’re not wrong. The alpaca stuffies are definitely a highlight of the weekend. They’re super cute stuffies that come in a variety of colors, which you receive after the scholar’s bowl. You even have a chance to win a larger alpaca by winning a fun challenge during the closing ceremony. Anyways, who could resist a free stuffed alpaca?

2. The experience.

I know, Scholar’s Cup doesn’t sound like everyone’s idea of an epic weekend. But honestly, it is such a great experience for so many reasons. WSC isn’t all school work; especially on the second day when the scholar’s bowl and award ceremony are held. Everyone has such a great time cheering when they get an answer right, or screaming their head off when you see a Lions Gate student get a medal. Besides the events, WSC gives you the opportunity to get to know people, both on your team and from other schools! It really is an epic weekend and definitely worth the effort.

3. It looks good on a resume.

Scholar’s cup is a really amazing thing to put on a resume, university/college applications, or anything else you’re applying for. WSC builds and develops skills that people will be looking for on all sorts of applications, like public speaking, English literacy, working under pressure, and collaborating as a team. 

4. It teaches you things while also being fun.

WSC is not just a competition to showcase your abilities and knowledge, but also to learn new things. Even if you feel as if you’ve done all of the studying possible for the competition, I guarantee you there will still be things that you get wrong, and things that you guess and get right. And that’s why it's fun. During the competition, not once do you feel as if you don’t know enough, or are doing badly. It’s also really easy to get a medal!

5. The studying involved isn't useless, or boring.

You don’t actually have to study at all to go, but you get out of it what you put into it. Honestly, the material they have you learn can actually be pretty interesting. It’s not just history either; they like to connect things to pop-culture and our everyday lives. The curriculum also includes music to listen to, art pieces, and maybe even short films. The information isn’t useless, either, I’ve found information I learned while studying for Scholar’s Cup to be applicable in social studies, english, and science!

6. LGCA makes it really easy to get started.

We are so lucky to have a school that supports us if we want to do the World Scholar’s Cup! Not only it is a lunchtime club, where the information is pre-formatted for you to easily cover it, but if you have any questions, there are two amazing teachers, Mrs. McCullough and Mr. Hamilton, who has had tons of experience with the World Scholar’s Cup to help you through it.

7. It can give you a chance to travel abroad.

If you’ve ever wanted to go to Australia, Korea, South Africa, China, India, the Maldives, or even Egypt, World Scholar's Cup offers that opportunity. Last year, a shocking 26 percent of candidates at the Vancouver round qualified to go to globals! (With every team in our school qualifying.) That’s over 110 competitors traveling across the world to compete internationally in debate, writing, and having fun with their friends.