CVHS students emerged as the top scorers for the Greater-Houston Academic WorldQuest competition, with CVHS’ teams placing first, second and third among 59 teams. The students competed at the Astros’ Daikin Stadium, demonstrating their knowledge of global affairs and current events.
The Academic WorldQuest competition is different from other competitions in that its primary goal is to improve knowledge of international relations for high schoolers across the United States. Under the World Affairs Councils of America, Academic WorldQuest holds more than 40 regional competitions throughout the year, in which more than 3,000 students from all backgrounds and regions of America compete.
“Academic WorldQuest released a study guide with some topics, and so you’re going to study those categories intensely. And then from the day of the competition, there are 10 rounds for those 10 topics, and there’ll be 10 questions for each round. And so the team with the highest score based on trivia from those categories will be eligible to go to nationals,” Shanti Majumder, a CVHS senior on the winning team, states.
With this system, the first-place team got 80 points out of 90, and the second and third teams got 76 and 71 points, respectively. The long-term goal is to compete in the Carlos and Malú Alvarez Academic WorldQuest National Competition held in Washington, D.C. The first-place team — Shanti Majumder, Siddharth Dasari, Brandon Strug and James Coulson Batchelor — was honored by qualifying for the National Competition in Washington, D.C. This will be Majumder, Strug and Batchelor’s third time going to nationals.
“We expected to do well because we put the work in, but to see CVHS sweeping first, second and third place was incredible. We started Academic WorldQuest [in sophomore year], and now we’ve influenced other teams at our school to compete too,” Majumder states.
Their success is the result of intense effort, focus, and a commitment to mastering international issues.
“Everyone has their own way of studying. Coulson is more of a reading-notes-and-YouTube kind of guy, while the rest of us rely on Quizlet — some intense Quizlet [sets], like 200+ terms of brute-force memorization. It’s not exactly fun, but studying together makes it bearable,” Majumder shared.
Apart from the competition, Academic WorldQuest allows students to develop critical thinking skills and provides a broader understanding of global issues.
“Before, when I was bored, I’d just scroll through YouTube. Now, I’m reading The Financial Times or The New York Times, looking at global events and trying to understand different political and economic systems,” Majumder reflects.
Students not only expand their comprehension of international relations but also prepare for future leadership roles in diplomacy, politics and global studies.
“I think this experience has taught me a lot about working with different personalities. We’re not your quintessential academic team — everyone has their own strengths and ways of studying. But that’s what makes us special. We’ve learned to trust each other, play to our strengths and build a strong team dynamic. That’s a skill I know will be valuable beyond just this competition,” Majumder says.
As the team heads to Nationals, they carry the pride of Houston and their school with them.
“We completely drop the judgment, just focus on the competition and what you can control in the future is something that we changed for the better,” Majumder said.
