Lights. Camera. Action!
Senior Hudson Moore and juniors Rose Krebs and Zoe Sugiyama recently went on TV to participate in the trivia show Brain Game, placing 14th in the competition held Feb. 27.
“It’s kind of scary, because you’re in a TV studio at WRAL, and all these hot lights are shining on [you] everywhere,” Moore said. “You’re not sure if you should buzz in or if you know the answer, combined with [the mindset of], ‘I’m on TV now, everyone can see me and they’re gonna know if I get an answer wrong.’ It’s kinda nerve-racking.”
Brain Game players are selected from the school’s Quiz Bowl team. Three Quiz Bowl members compete at the WRAL studio in Raleigh. When on TV, they compete against other schools in the trivia game. The first person to buzz in and answer the question correctly wins points.
Brain Game has many aspects that are required to lead the team to victory, including quick movements to hit the buzzer, on-your-feet thinking and teamwork.
“I always get really excited for competition, because I love trivia, and I love answering questions, and it’s really fun, especially when we’re on a roll, and we’re getting a bunch of things right, and we feel really good as a team,” Moore said. “It is also really nerve-racking, especially since in our playoff round, it was such a close game, and if we got a few more questions right, we could win.”
Krebs enjoys quiz bowl and the science environment.
“I like trivia; I like learning stuff; I’ve always like science and math,” Krebs said.
Brain Game requires the students to work as a team. The team normally has people focus on specific subjects so they are prepared. Facts from all core subjects are used in Brain Game questions.
“It helps me think about all the subjects and remember stuff I learned way back in freshmen year, and I have to refresh myself; it helps keep trivia fresh in my mind,” Moore said.
The questions on Brain Game challenge the students to use their minds and apply classroom knowledge to the playing field.
“All of [the subjects] are things that we would learn in school, but a lot of them are from AP classes, so if you haven’t taken that class or you aren’t really good in that subject, then you might have no idea what the answer is,” Moore said.
Though the competition involves questions that focus on known knowledge, it also helps the students learn new facts. Students are given a location they must study in advance and learn as much as possible about for the competition questions.
“The countries that you pick to study for the episode help you with that current country’s history and also keep you updated with current events,” Krebs said. “[However], a lot of the stuff is stuff you learn in your classes.”
– By Natalie Fragnito