Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - March/April 2014 - (Page 36)

by Daniel Chiu The Buzz about History Histor y THE NATIONAL HISTORY BOWL CHAMPIONSHIP IT WAS THE FINAL QUESTION of the ﬁnal round of the National History Bowl Middle School Championship. The score was 240-210, with my team leading. However, on a question that could be worth 30 points if answered early enough, anything could happen, and everyone was nervous. The question began: "One man with this title once had a ring of ﬁre surround his head while he was a slave, and the third man to hold it died of a divine lightning strike." The Accidental Contender In December 2012, the newsletter for my middle school mentioned tryouts for a new competition, the History Bee. I had never heard of the competition, but I had some interest in history and thought it was worth a try. Those of us who signed up for History Bee took a 70-question written test at our school. Afterward, the top seven scorers competed in an oral round using buzzers. The top four students then took an 80-question test, the Online Regional Qualifying Exam (ORQE). Like the written and oral tests, the ORQE included questions drawing from all aspects of history. Based on our results on that test, all four of us advanced to the regional competition that would take place six weeks later. The regional History Bee was held at a small private school near Portland, Oregon. I had never participated in a history competition, so I did not expect to win. Much to my surprise, before I knew it, I was in the finals. I finished in second place and qualified for the National History Bee. I started to think that maybe I was actually good at history. To Bee or to Bowl? Three days later, the organizer of History Bee at my school sent an email about History Bowl, which is similar to History Bee and run by the same organization but is a completely separate competition. The main difference is that while History Bee is an individual competition, History Bowl is team-based, with up to four people on a team. Fortunately, our four highest scorers in the Bee were available, so we registered. Our school signed up two teams, and my younger brother Benji was on the other team. There was 36 imagine just one problem: History Bowl was only five days away. After three days of preparation, our families drove to the regional competition at a high school north of Portland. Over the course of the day, each team played six matches. My team won all six of our matches, racking up 2,360 points. We came in first, qualifying for the national competition that would be held two months later in Washington, DC. My brother's team came in second and also qualified for the national competition. Now I had a dilemma. I was already planning to fly to the MATHCOUNTS National Competition and the National History Bee. It would have been difficult to fly to a third tournament because I would miss too many school days. On the way out of the regional competition, my mother asked for advice from a high school student who had competed nationally the year before. When we told him our total score was 2360, he said we definitely should go to National History Bowl, and that our score could be a record in the country and possibly in the history of History Bowl! When we got home, we looked online at the scores of other teams going to nationals. Seeing that my team's score was indeed the highest registered score, I decided to go to the National History Bowl instead of the National History Bee. After registration closed, our team was still seeded first. My teammates and I knew we had a chance to win the national competition, but we also knew we would have to study hard. My brother and I read history books from the local public library. My mother watched history movies with us. Before I learned about history competitions, my main interests in history were the Roman Empire and World War II. While studying, I became enthralled by Mar/Apr 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - March/April 2014

In My Own Words
Chemistry Is…
Master of Reactions
Fascinated by Photochemistry
What About Labs?
Buckyballs and Nanocrystals
Small Is Big
Chemistry Among the Stars
Making Chemicals Safer, 21st Century Style
Selected Opportunities & Resources
Empowered to Change the World
The Buzz About History
Off the Shelf
Word Wise
Exploring Career Options
One Step Ahead
Planning Ahead for College
Students Review
Mark Your Calendar
Knossos Games

Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - March/April 2014