Thursday, December 4, 2008

Academic Decathlon

By now, you know I'm a nerd. I just don't know if you've figured out how epically nerdy I am.

If there was a nerd club, I'd be the president ... no, the emperor.

In high school, I was in a club called Academic Decathlon.



This is basically a club where kids stay after school and study 10 topics for a competition that goes all the way to the national level. Members of the team are tested, and the highest scoring teams move up to state and then national competitions.

Yup, you read that right. I stayed after school for a studying club. Granted, I was only on the support team, meaning I helped the team members instead of joining the team, but it's still geeky.

That said, this was the funnest part of high school. In general, the only worthwhile memories I have are those with my friends, but this one part was actually fun. We even went to state one year, which is a pretty big accomplishment because the competition is pretty intense in California.

At some point, I'll have to share some stories from this period, but for now, I figure the first step is just to acknowledge that they exist.

6 comments:

trublubyu said...

go decathletes!

JMadd said...

At least you weren't a mathlete. Those peeps were the nerdiest.

Julie said...

Ummmmm . . . isn't being on the support team actually MORE geeky than actually being on the team. I'm picturing the guys who carry the band instruments because they didn't quite make the band. Or the "managers" who have to wipe up the sweat from the gym floor or fill up the water bottles because they didn't make the basketball team. Really, Nathan, how geeky do you have to be if all you are doing is "supporting" the geeks? You were like a geek groupie. Niiiiice.

Nathan said...

Julie: I think I laughed for a full five minutes after reading this comment. Obviously, you know me too well.

Julie said...

:-)

Dun said...

I was on the Academic Decathlon team at my HS for three years, and it was RAD. I think I played the nerd role though, b/c there were varsity baseball players and head cheerleaders and student body president-types on our team. They were really well-rounded, I guess. Anyway, we went on sweet trips (to state once, which is sad because the competition shouldn't be TOO tough in AZ, right?). I got some medals and had a lot of fun.

So there's my Academic Decathlon story.