What’s the biggest island in the world?

Did you say Greenland? 

Either way, you might have asked yourself what the significance of the question was. Maybe you compared it to a random piece of knowledge you collect in elementary school. 

That same argument is used to discredit the game of trivia. Some disregard it as a childish endeavor, a game that kids play for fun. However, that stance reduces the game to a simplistic concept and ignores its many benefits. Realistically, however, trivia isn’t about accumulating random knowledge; it’s about the game, the objective of remembering and answering in a fast-paced, pressured environment.

At Lambert, the game of trivia exists in its full form through the Quiz Bowl team, a club where students compete in trivia competitions against other schools at the district, state and national levels. Trivia rounds are a series of increasingly difficult questions. A team earns a certain amount of points based on the speed they correctly answer. 

The sponsor of Lambert’s Quiz Bowl team, Ms. Creuser, provided insight into how high school trivia competitions operate.

“We operate in two worlds,” Creuser explained. “The team competes in local competitions in the county as well as national competitions on a larger scale. These larger competitions are where the team shines, as they go through months of preparation and commitment to perform on a national stage.

The 2021-2022 team was especially dedicated and won the national PACE (Partnership for Academic Competition Excellence) competition in Chicago. Last year’s winning team included current Lambert students Adi Krish and Anish Kayarthodi as well as Lambert alumni Aadi Karthik, Vishal Sareddy and Manas Reddy.

At practices, Lambert team members memorize information and utilize it in competitions. Over the course of the year through competing in multiple competitions, these trivia players build up the skills in their brains to access information quickly. 

The current officers of the club, Adi Krish, Ritvik Ganta and Sishnukeshav Balamurali and Anish Kayarthodi, have developed valuable skills through their years in Quiz Bowl. “I was fortunate enough to be able to gain insight into completely new topics,” Adi said. “I’ve got to read literature that I might never have been exposed to.”

Lambert Quiz Bowl provides students the opportunity to develop knowledge and strengthen their worldview. Practicing trivia enhances the brain’s ability to make connections between learned and inferred information, which strengthens a student’s abilities overall. Imagine you’re taking a multiple choice exam and you’re stumped between two choices. More often than not, any outside knowledge you have in the back of your head can help you make an educated guess. 

Trivia is inherently a fun sport. It’s a fast-paced competition that challenges your brain through many subjects and fields of study. That duality of fun and academia is a unique combination that few other activities offer and should be celebrated more at Lambert. 

The quiz bowl team is an opportunity for students to enhance their skills and have fun. Students who have a wide range of knowledge are more well-rounded in their education. For more information about Lambert’s Quiz Bowl team, visit this website.