Rewriting History: PISQians qualify for the European Championships

Writer: Janeal Anne M. Agustin

Feature Writer

Date: March 13-14

Venue: Zoom (Online)

From March 13 to 14, the PISQ Senior High School students have once again embarked on another tournament. With just 2 days of preparation and the guidance of their coach, Mr. Jaspher B. Tapiz, the team was ready to face schools from countries like Switzerland, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, and other European countries, and compete in the International History Bee and Bowl European Winter League 2021.

In the Bee division of the event held on March 13, competing solo was Luis Gabriel T. Calabia. Although he had competed and won several times in events hosted by IHBB in the past, he confirms that he had performed well and better this time around, not to mention the “Lack of review [he] had prior to the event due to a tight schedule.” Nevertheless, Luis was able to secure the sweet rank 4 spot in his tournament having a 1-point difference from the 3rd ranker.

The battle of wits between the history enthusiasts commenced last March 14 through Zoom, where every bit of information had been extracted out of them given that the competition lasted from 2 pm to 10 pm. The students signed up for the Varsity category of the Bowl division and were divided into two teams. Team A consisted of Rhee Jeremiah S. Costan, Justin Varick S. Pacer, Moreen Nicole C. Amat, and Julianne Carmel I. Caday, while Team B included Luis Gabriel T. Calabia, Gian Antonio R. Tortola, George Dwight M. De los Angeles, and Carl Angelo C. Casilag. The quiz bowl had 5 preliminary rounds, a semi-final round, and a final round. There were 4 quarters per round, each with 10 questions, which utilized an online application called COBA for the buzzer mechanics. 

Headstarting the competition, both teams won the first round. Team A aced it with a total score of 290 against St. Stephens Academy from Italy, while Team B triumphed against a team from the Junior Varsity category, with a total of 260 points.  For the second round, without permitting their opponents to obstruct their road to victory, Team A, once again, attains another win in this round against a team from the Junior Varsity category with a total of 340.

Moving onto the third round, although both teams lost from their respective matches. However, Team A was able to make a comeback for the fourth round as they scored a total of 290  Middle East International School Team A with a score of 80. Finally stepping into the final round of the preliminaries, after consequent close calls, Team B ended their last round against St. Stephens Academy with a whopping score of 210 as compared to the latter’s 170.

After 5 rounds, Team A was able to qualify for the semi-finals. The team competed against the highest leading team from the International School of Geneva from Switzerland. Although they did not succeed, it was still a thrilling experience for our representatives. 

After all the buzzing and discussing, the battle for third place was bound to happen. Coming back head-on with Tashkent International School from Uzbekistan who defeated them in their third round, one of the members of Team A said, “My teammates and I trusted one another the whole time and we made sure to get that 3rd spot at the finale.” Thus, after all 7 rounds, the intense battles had been worth it in the end as the bronze title was given to PISQ’s Team A.

The whole competition was a rollercoaster of fun and fire. It was indeed a lengthy and exhausting one for the students, but at the end of the day, Bill Maher still says, “If you think you have it tough, read history books.” Being passionate about things of the past and the underlying stories behind them is what truly makes these individuals masters of history bowls.