Early in the morning of April 27th, the students from SHSID’s WSC team gathered at the SHSID Baise gate, jumping with eager excitement. This marked the start of a 2-day WSC regional competition: a successful and unifying experience and one that greatly surpassed our achievements in the regional rounds last year.

A bit of tension was building as the students unloaded off the bus to enter the competition; everyone was bubbling with anticipation. Each student, along with their teams of three, were separated and assigned to different competition challenges based on their assigned group, such as collaborative writing, the scholar’s challenge, and team debates. During the opening ceremony, Daniel Berdichevsky, the founder of WSC, calmed students with light-hearted explanations of how each team event was to be carried out. Throughout the three events that we participated in on Saturday (collaborative writing, the scholar’s challenge, and the team debate), all of our eleven teams went through varying experiences, deterrents, achievements, and glories—all with something new to share. The day closed sooner than expected, with each student standing, once again, at the entrance, discussing their scores and expectations. Needless to say, there was immense hope and promise for the results the following day.

On Sunday, the students filed into the Grand Theatre of China, a bit worn-out from the day of work on Saturday, and settled into their seats. Sunday began far more buoyant than the previous day, with amusing challenges involving balancing alpacas on our heads, honoring the chairs we were sitting on, and other absurd yet entertaining notions that carried on throughout the entire day. Then came the scholar’s bowl, bringing both whirlwinds of cheer and melodramatic team reactions to the questions relating to the WSC study topics presented on the grand display. A break was given to the students, during which each of them adopted an alpaca. After an eventful lunch, the students reentered the auditorium for the debate showcase (for which Daniel Chen from SHSID was chosen as a speaker for the negative team), followed by the talent show.

Finally, as the patience of each student wore thin, the award ceremony began. First, the junior team challenge scores were announced. As each team name flashed onto the vibrant red screen, each student was holding their breath and praying for the best as they watched on. Team 255, comprised of Alex Dawrant, Chloe Xue and Chloe Ng, ranked 5th in the junior division, and team 251, comprised of Audrey Lin, Crystal Zhao and Mimi Yang, ranked second overall.

Individual debate champions were announced next: Crystal Zhao ranked 12th for Junior debate, Mimi Yang 7th, and Audrey Lin at 6th. In the senior division, Mike Chen ranked 4th. To place in the top ten at the largest Shanghai WSC round ever means a ranking in the top 1% of 700+ competitors—a tremendous accolade for SHSID.

For the team bowl, Team 255 ranked in the top 10 once again at 9th, and team 251 again snatched second place. The screams and hollers in support of SHSID’s teams were as vibrant as ever, and our presence was moving and detectable across the entire theatre.

Coming up next were the subject awards, of which Audrey Lin from 8(8) ranked #1 with the highest scores in Art & Music. She also received 5 gold medals and one silver medal for her achievements in the other 6 categories.

For the individual collaborative writing sector, Mimi Yang of 8(1) ranked 9th in the junior division, and Harry from 8(9) achieved 11th place in the senior division. For the team scores in collaborative writing, Team 253, comprised of Erika Liao, Elizabeth Yu, and Vicky Yu, ranked 10th in the junior division, Mimi Yang, Crystal Zhao, and Audrey Lin ranked 7th, while in the senior division Harry Lee, Adele Shen, and Warren Wang ranked at an incredible 5th place.

When it came to team debates, SHSID dominated. Rank #1 for the junior division was awarded to Team 251, while Team 253 and Team 252 (Raymond Tang, Max Liu, Lucas Wu), followed with a close third place and seventh place, respectively. The senior division’s first place debate team was taken by Mike Chen’s team of three scholars, all from different schools. Nonetheless, it was a victory to be rejoiced among the scholars of SHSID.

Finally, anticipation built up to its apex when the results for champion scholars began coming out. These were the combined scores for each individual student from every round they chose to compete in—and SHSID once again plastered the screen with three scholars making the top 10, all from the same team of 251. These were Crystal Zhao in 10th, Audrey Lin in 3rd, and Mimi Yang in 2nd place. The champion scholars representing each school were also announced, of which Mimi Yang represented the junior division of SHSID. There were more people from SHSID on the top 10 award panel than from any other school.

Last, but most definitely not least, the qualifier champion teams that would proceed to the global round in the Netherlands this summer were triumphantly announced. Every team from our school, senior and junior, qualified to advance to the global round. Each team stood by the side of the stage, by the audience seats, watching and waiting with fearful eagerness. The teammates of 251, anticipating a high ranking, stood with their fingers crossed, not bearing to wait any more grueling seconds for the results. Finally, the screen flashed red with the name of the number one team in all of regionals—one sharp intake of breath, and the words: “Shanghai High School International Division” was displayed. Right underneath was the triumphant team number: 251, followed by the names of Mimi Yang, Audrey Lin, and Crystal Zhao. As the cherry on top of each team’s achievements, SHSID was able to lock down first place for best team in both the senior and junior divisions. Elated cries were heard throughout the crowd as students congratulated each other: the essence of unity was heard through the air. When the prizes were finally all handed out, the students packed their bags with alpacas in hand, bid farewell to their chairs, and were ready to head home with spirits high, hoisting their school pride higher than ever before!

（Written by 8（1）Mimi Yang，8（6）Cui Jiaxin Supervised by Mr. Jason Sonnefeldt, Chen Fan Pictures by Mr. Jason Sonnefeldt）