History Bowl Club traveled with two teams to Arlington, Virginia to compete for the first time in the 2024 National History Bowl from April 27 to April 28. Although both teams did not make it past the qualifying stage for further competition, they were able to win rounds and improve their overall ranking. Following this year, the team has qualified for the International History Bowl in 2025.
History Bowl President Etan Kiang ’25 said that despite losing a member of the team, the team made adjustments to compete at a high level with other teams.
“I am so proud of our team,” Kiang said. “One team member withdrew only four days before the tournament, so we had to rebalance the teams and build team chemistry in a very short time. Our teams were smaller than others, so it was an uphill battle from the start, but I’m happy with the effort we put in.”
During a History Bowl competition, a maximum of four participants compete against another team in a buzzer-style quiz format. In the four rounds against the opposing team, competitors attempt to answer as many questions correctly as possible, ranging from ancient and medieval history up until The Modern Era.
To prepare for History Bowl, the club members quiz each other and study different periods of history. Club member Edward Ward ’25, who qualified for the National History Bee, an individual-based History Bowl competition, said the team can make a few adjustments for the next year.
“We prepared throughout the year by reading Wikipedia and competing against each other using sets of questions from previous years,” Ward said. “The two most important things to improve for next year are speed and confidence, as there were many times we knew the right answer but either weren’t quick enough or confident enough to answer before it was too late.”
History Bowl club member Clara Conrad ’25 said she is confident the team will take experience competing at the highest level to improve for next year’s competitions.
“We didn’t do as well as we hoped, but we kind of expected it because it was our first time at a national tournament,” Conrad said. “I think that we’ll do way better next year just because we know what it’s like.”
