The sound of a buzzer echoed through the ballroom of a Marriott Hotel in Atlanta. Onlooks held their breath as sophomore Arjun Vijaykumar answered a particularly difficult question about history. As soon as the answer left Vijaykumar’s mouth, a “ding-ding-ding!” rung, and the audience erupted into applause for his correct response.
This was the kind of action that occurred while the Quiz Bowl team competed at the High School National Championship Tournament (HSNCT) late last May. The team, Saratoga B, consisted of Vijaykumar, Harini Ramakrishnan, Devraj Bora and Ava Cai. They placed 49th out of the 330 teams that participated, a memorable and significant achievement.
Throughout last school year, one of the main challenges was that the team lacked opportunities to meet together, meaning members had to train on their own to prepare for competitions.
Even after their recent success, the team faces an immediate challenge for survival. The ASB cut Quiz Bowl from the list of official groups this past summer because of a failure to turn in a required exit form last year.
Team member sophomore Ramakrishnan said that has left them searching for a new faculty sponsor as they apply for reinstatement.
The Quiz Bowl team has been active for almost ten years, but attendance has recently declined. Last year, almost half of the club members were seniors who have since graduated. However, a thriving Redwood Middle School program is bringing hope for more elite teams.
Quiz Bowl is an organized trivia game consisting of two teams with four starters each covering a large variety of trivia including science, history, literature and subcategories in math. During each round, a moderator reads the questions aloud for the students and competitors on each team have buzzers they may press to provide an answer.
Last year, Quiz Bowl experienced much of its success because of new members Vijaykumar and Ramakrishnan, who are now the president and vice president of the club, respectively.
“They’re insane. They smoked the competition out of the water in middle school. They smoked them last year too,” sophomore Devraj Bora said. “These two are generational.”
Aside from learning about trivia topics, members have also experienced personal growth from participating in tournaments.
“My participation in Quiz Bowl has helped me with improving my work ethic and studying habits,” Vijaykumar said. “Through practicing and setting goals for myself for Quiz Bowl, I’ve gained those skills for other applications as well.”
As president, Vijaykumar plans to have meetings in the student center after school on Blue Tuesdays and Wednesdays. During club meetings, members can expect to have one-on-one practice matches with each other and discuss availability for tournaments.
“Quiz Bowl isn’t just about remembering facts — it’s about remembering the moments that come with them,” Bora said. “It’s all the little pieces of joy, stress and laughter woven together into something we’ll carry long after the last question is read.”
