With winter break long gone and finals coming up, second semester is right around the corner! To most of us, second semester merely means another first semester plus two times the effort, homework, and exams. But through the twinkling and excited eyes of a diligent student, second semester marks the beginning of a brand-new academic adventure. How do I know, you ask? Well, fallen through the hands of a naïve and eager nerd was a fairly detailed list of extraordinary goals full of new ambitions. Here is the list of new semester resolutions that was carelessly lost by a fellow comrade and found its way into the hands of a Pow Wow staff writer...

Nerds habitually become teacher’s pets due to their fantastic grades, so who would’ve guessed that number one on this list is to achieve teacher’s-pet status. Teachers constantly insist that they don’t judge students, but it is obvious that resisting the human instinct of focusing more attention on one who shares similar interests is impossible. Perhaps the reason why nerds like being the teacher’s pet isn’t for bragging rights, but for security. Security that comes from being sure the teacher likes them because they’re smarter than others.

Number two is to claim a seat at the front of the class, not only because of their bulky, thick rimmed glasses, but also to prove academic seriousness. The annoyance of assigned seats could be easily dodged by a simple complaint of not being able to see the board. Already surpassing the IQ of a genius, these nerds end up learning most from sitting in the front, therefore maintaining their nerd-like status.

According to normal people, nerds are seen as distasteful and eerie creatures that have abnormally overactive brains. Despite their photographic memory and fast-learning ability, number three and four on the list are to learn the next few chapters and to prepare early for the following school year. So scholarly, yet so aggressive, these education-craved people fight hard to push ahead of the rest. Information-greedy, these gluttons for learning practically steal the attention from teachers. Hidden under their innocent faces, this is merely another tactic for them to be further enlightened.

Number five on the list is to succeed in playing sports. If only math and physics were applied to sports, nerds would be something beyond our imaginations! With beautiful bodies and toned muscles, nerds would look like supermodels. But a nerd could only determine a football player’s move in advance with permutations and combinations. Or use physics to evaluate the velocity of how far and how fast a baseball would fly under certain conditions.

Number six on the list is to achieve a normal BMI ‘body mass index’. Unhealthy eating caused by excess schoolwork causes a nerd to be either too scrawny and undernourished or a bit too chunky and tubby. Along with unhealthy eating, the amount of exercise they do in a week might have been said to be three sit ups, for about… a year. A healthy tip for those unhealthy nerds out there: an apple a day keeps the doctor away!

Last but not least (in fact, this is probably the most difficult), a nerd wants to experience the somewhat legendary and unattainable feeling – love. With the heart of a robot, these poor people yearn for love. Their desire to feel the passionate sensation is unbearable although they hide it through their vacant expressions and monotone sound waves. Study dates with their own mothers (and occasionally the, also, lonely elderly neighbors down the street), these deprived and underprivileged loners aren’t greedy. Unseemly appearance, less than nice personality – it’s all good! They just desperately need someone with a working brain and beating heart.

Well, there you have it, the new semester resolutions of a typical nerd released into the world. Study a little harder, and push further to achieve higher grades. Steal a seat in the front to learn a little more and even mentally knock down the fellow competitors. Just don't forget: an apple a day keeps the doctor away. Then, two apples a day keeps heart disease at bay. Company during those lonely hours of studying is highly appreciated, regardless of appearance.

Although Quiz Bowl (QB) had already qualified a team for the National competition in Chicago, members had to keep their feet on the ground in order to compete in the New Trier's Varsity Tournament (NTVT). It was especially difficult, considering how there were many Quiz Bowl members who were not able to attend the competition (due to other events occurring on the same day such as Speech and Debate’s spring debate.) On Sat. Jan. 9th, Quiz Bowl headed off to UCLA for the all-day competition against schools such as Rancho Bernardo, La Jolla, Diamond Bar, Torrey Pines, and Hart High. Arcadia High’s B team placed 5th in the competition overall while Arcadia’s A team placed 7th. Most of Arcadia’s usual A team members were unable to compete, but QB managed to pull off what co-captain, Alex Hu, believed was “a creditable performance, given what [they] had.” However, Arcadia also left the competition with some victorious individual wins. Senior Alex Hu from Arcadia’s B team placed 5th in individual scoring along with Jeff Xiao, who placed 6th.
Although this was an unexpected rocky start to the New Year, Quiz Bowl was not discouraged. Instead, they created a resolution to improve. According to Alex Hu, Quiz Bowl will “[build] on individual talent and weld the different teams to self-contained units.” He confidently stated that his goal is for Quiz Bowl’s teams “to each be able to cover all of the bases.” However, he also wanted the process of achieving these goals to be fun for the members. The desire to win reminded Alex about the joy of competitions as he started to reminisce: “First, there are the opposing teams: the rivalry between the different schools is very intense but friendly -- there's an almost professional respect. Then, there are the competitions themselves: there is nothing quite like the thrill of racing to piece together clues and buzzing in fast and correctly.”
OB’s idea of winning does not include a medal with engravings or a shiny trophy, winning to these members represent having fun experiences and gaining knowledge that they can grow from.
Quiz Bowl gave, and will continue on giving, their members opportunities to grow, improve, and just have fun competing in a subject they love most. With these three aspects as their goal, Quiz Bowl will continue to prosper…all the way to Chicago!