Academic WorldQuest Will Compete at Nationals

The SM East Academic WorldQuest team is headed to the national competition at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. this weekend. The team, comprised of Andrew McWard, Hudson Peters, Anamika Ratri and Jocelyn Worner, began their journey to the capitol with a meeting in Ms. Fishman’s room.

“I got involved simply because Ms. Fishman made an announcement to my History of the Americas class,” said junior Andrew McWard. “I really like international relations, so I thought it would be pretty fun. Luckily, only four of us showed up for the first meeting, which is the maximum size for a team, so we didn’t have to cut anyone that would have wanted to join.”

The team met regularly to discuss topics they would be encountering at competitions. Each member was assigned an area of study which could vary from US economic policy to Chinese Relations.

After competing against fifteen other teams from the Kansas City area at Districts, the East team was chosen to represent the district at the national competition on Saturday. While competing, the contestants will go through ten rounds, each containing ten multiple choice questions on a given topic. The questions can be drawn from one of six categories: US Education (or other governmental policy), China, NATO, UN Millennium Goals, Azerbaijan or Current Events. The competition will involve a conference, the actual testing rounds, as well as receptions at the Chinese and Saudi Arabian embassies.

“I’m not really feeling too nervous,” says McWard. “We’ve already come a lot farther than we thought, and while it would be great if we won nationals, I won’t be too heartbroken if we don’t.”