| Tournament of Champions @ Yale grounds (Nov 2023) | Global @ Bangkok (July 2023) |
Regional @ Chandigarh (May 2023)
When we went to regional level round at Chandigarh, it was an exploration for us. We didn’t know much about this competition before enrolling. We prepared for this in whatever short time we got.
At the time of enrolling, we knew each other only as classmates. But we started discovering our strengths and weaknesses during this preparation. I found how hard working they are. They discovered my style of experiential learning.
Once we cleared the regional round, we were elated and eager to succeed in second round at Bangkok. This time, our preprations were more structured – each knew our strengths and we brought it together. This preprartion helped us qualify to finals (Tournament of Champions) to be held at Yale grounds.
Thailand is a place of deep culutre and traditions. We took couple of days to visit these places. I had only read about shared cultural nuances between India and Thailand but seeing them in person was such a revelation.
When we went to New Haven – I was amazed how diverse the participant cohort was. More than winning those medals, I felt the whole experience mattered to me. The competition, new perspectives, the intellectual capital around me and the fun of being in a different country made it unique.
After the compeitions, I took time to visit Boston, New York, Washington DC and New Jersey. The first hand visits to some Ivy league universities and MIT thrilled me. It was at this moment, I realised that the learning style in such universities aligned so much to my style of experiential learning, building something myself and independent learning of STEM outside academics.
Across all three rounds, one thing stood out – the diversity really changed how I viewed the world. I made numerous friends from different countries, became curious to learn about them and about their culture. Few of these friends managed to stay in touch. Hopefully, I can cross paths with them again.
