Letter from the Founder

The artist Austin Kleon once advised his students, “Draw the art you want to see, play the music you want to hear, write the books you want to read, build the products you want to use.”

In designing the World Scholar’s Cup, my team and I have always kept something similar in mind: to design a program we wish we could have attended when we were students.

That’s why the World Scholar’s Cup may look like a competition, but isn’t one at all. It’s a celebration of learning. (Just ask the “ninjas” who raided the Taiwan Round in 2012 to demand more guides to study.) It brings together many subjects, because before we can begin to specialize, we need to see the big picture. It challenges teams to work together, because there’s nothing harder or more inspiring than knowing that someone else depends on you. And it deals with serious global issues without taking itself too seriously, because I’m convinced that before we can fall in love with learning, we have to find the fun in learning.

Whether you join us just for just a regional round or continue with us all the way to the Tournament of Champions at Yale University, you’re becoming part of a community of scholars and leaders that will last a lifetime.

Daniel Berdichevsky
Founder and Executive Director

Letter from a Scholar

How are you scholars !!

All your base are belong to us.

If you're already here, you’re probably thinking about participating in the World Scholar's Cup. You should. It's truly a great experience. Not only can you increase your understanding about different subjects, you learn how to connect them to each other, and to the world.

This is an academic competition. But it's different from other competitions, in that it's probably not even a competition. It is a celebration. Instead of focusing on memorizing facts, WSC is all about applying them and relating them to the world around us ^[1] You don't need to know that Victor Hugo was a realist; you need to know what artwork might have interested him the most ^[2]. You may learn about the housing bubble, or why Yue Minjun painted five unclothed men laughing in front of five white birds, and debate whether there will be another bubble even when we most expect it, or what a painting of laughing men could mean in a regime that never laughs at itself. Whatever you do, you're celebrating learning, even if you don't think you like learning. Before you know it, you'll be asking for more topics to explore^[3].

I can't believe that I haven't mentioned alpacas yet. They're pwaa-some.^[4] You can get different types of alpacas at tournaments, such as furry ones, finger puppets, or even genetically modified alpabears.

You'll have a great experience. You'll make new friends and learn from other people. Even though you'll have to study a lot and research a lot, you'll love doing it.

Is it challenging? Yes. Can it be frightening? Yes. Will it be fun? Absolutely. Welcome to the World Scholar’s Cup; welcome to the greatest festival of learning in the world.

Terran Kroft
Kaohsiung

[1] ...in motion.
[2] I don't think he'll like The End of Everything.
[3] That's what I do in my free time, actually.
[4] Pwaa is the sound of a happy alpaca. An unhappy alpaca spits.