Fall 2011 Newsletter Extended: Quiz Bowl
Live It, Protect It, Explore It!
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THE ACADEMIC QUIZ BOWL: MORE THAN JUST COMPETITION
By: Amy Lepp (RPTA '11), Guest Writer
Last year I had the amazing opportunity to attend the National Recreation and Park Association's (NRPA) Annual Congress in Minneapolis and compete in (and win) the first annual academic annual Quiz Bowl competition. This year I was fortunate enough to attend again, with a new team (Ali Bickel, Jamie Dehn, & Lauren Maston) in Atlanta, Georgia. We ended up having a great time, and I can speak for all of us when saying that we are so thankful the department gave us this opportunity. It was incredible to attend a national conference where we got to meet and network with people from all over the country. The educational sessions included talks on many interesting subjects, and the exhibit hall was the team's favorite place due to hundreds of businesses with different products and services (as well as our favorite - lots of new playgrounds and equipment to test out). NRPA also planned networking events that we attended with great food and entertainment. The opening party was our favorite because it was at the Georgia Aquarium, and we got to see beluga whales, dolphins, whale sharks, and even touch the sting rays!
The competition we had all been waiting for was held on Wednesday night in the Georgia World Congress Center. Because of the amount of time we had studied, we all felt very prepared and were excited to compete. We started off in the first round against BYU and Ole Miss. The competition didn't go as we had hoped and after a series of unfortunate questions and events, we ended up losing to the winning team, BYU. We were all pretty frustrated with the outcome because we had put so much time and effort into the competition. But, after the initial disappointment subsided, we were able to remember the reason why we were there‚ to have fun and positively represent Cal Poly and RPTA.
Of course, it is still disappointing that we lost; however, we were all able to learn so much from the experience, and it was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity. I am so thankful for our professors who helped coach us and to the whole department who supported us. I made some amazing friends, was able to network with incredible professionals, and showed NRPA what Cal Poly RPTA is all about! I will never forget the great times and happy memories from the NRPA Conference 2011!
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