The World Scholar’s Cup Global Round – Seoul

Having placed third in the Perth round last year, Oliver Spurling (Year 10 Alexander), Simon Pocock (Year 10 Cameron) and Oscar Ho (Year 10 Cameron), earned a place in The World Scholar’s Cup Global Round that took place over the July holidays in Seoul, South Korea.

With over 1500 students competing from 22 countries, the competition centred around the overarching theme Reconstructing the Past. Aside from several fun days of social, historical, and cultural activities, the boys engaged in four days of intense thinking, writing, and debating. With only 15 minutes to prepare for each debate and challenging topics such as “science should be taught in the order that it was discovered”, the team was pushed to their limits. Well done to Oliver, Simon and Oscar for representing the College and Australia so well in what was a massive and talented field. Special mention to Oliver Spurling who placed 18th overall as one of the youngest competitors in the Senior Division.

“Over the July holidays, we competed in The World Scholar’s Cup Global Round, which was held in Seoul, South Korea. Mr. Sterrett and Ms. Hodgson accompanied us through all facets of the trip, from the competition itself, to going to the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea on what was probably the foggiest day known to mankind. Each day, we immersed ourselves in South Korean culture, with frequent trips to Korean BBQs as well as attempting to follow the seemingly impossible metro system. Throughout the trip, we visited places such as the Blue House, Gyeongbokgung Palace, art museums, and a Korean rice cake museum where we made our own rice cakes.

Throughout all the events (debating, collaborative writing, a solo multi-choice quiz, and a team multi-choice) we met many people from across the globe and made new friends. On the social side, there was a cultural fair which immersed us in many different global cultures, a semi-formal ball with a DJ, a talent contest, and tours organised by the WSC team. Overall, throughout this amazing experience, we have all grown much closer (sharing a triple bed hotel room helps), made new friends from across the world, and really enjoyed participating in The World Scholars Cup Global Round”.

Oliver Spurling, Jason Pocock and Oscar Ho