First story: Chickens and Razors
At last night’s banquet, Dr. Kathy Hartzel welcomed all the teams, coaches, and volunteers to the event. She asked the teams from the various universities a few questions, including how far they traveled and the description of the school’s mascot. While the Students from the University of South Carolina (USC) were describing their mascot (the Gamecock), a Student from a rival school stated bluntly that a Gamecock is a chicken. A Student from USC defended the mascot by adding “It’s a chicken with razors.” The crowd roared in approval!
Second story: Josh, are you done?
During the rounds of competition, 2 teams of 4 Students each played a Jeopardy-style game head to head. The moderator read a question, Students buzzed in and answered, and judges determined valid responses. In each round, anywhere from 20 to 40 people were in the room participating or observing. The competition was intense – the Students enjoyed the rounds, but they really wanted to win! That’s the background to Josh…
One of the rounds was tight…the score was close. The question put to the group was as follows: “Name every Process that uses the word ‘Scope’.” Josh buzzed in. Josh answered “Define Scope…Verify Scope…Control Scope…uhhh…uhhh…” Then, he put his head down in deep concentration. He wasn’t done. Turns out, those 3 are the correct answer. Josh was right, but he kept the judges in suspense…head down…eyes closed…concentrating. The tension built. We didn’t know what to do. After a long, awkward pause, a judge asked if Josh was done. He sighed loudly and said “yes”, and we told him he was correct! Everyone burst into relieved laughter and applause!
PS – Dr. Hartzel – that is your Student. Be proud!
Back at it tomorrow – final rounds. Great stuff!