On March 7, the Dulwich College School secondary auditorium teemed with participants from over 30 different schools. Sponsored by the International History Bee and Bowl (IHBB), the Asian division of the competition began at 7:30 a.m. For the first time ever, SIS students David Kim (11), Nagyon Kim (11), Jungho Daniel Choi (11), Jean Cho (11), Michael Kim (11) and Jaewon Choi (12) also participated in this event and won the National Championships

“The competition itself was an unreal experience,” said David Kim (11), founder of the event at SIS. “Schools came from all over Korea. A school even came from Busan. We were initially apprehensive for we put the team together just last week while other schools prepared for months. However, we went undefeated with seven wins.”

The competition is comprised of two different sectors: The Bee for individual participants and the Bowl for students participating in groups. The SIS team qualified for the History Bowl at Asian Championships held in Thailand in June as well as at the inaugural International History Olympiad held in the US in July. Michael, Jaewon, Jungho and Nagyon also qualified for the History Bee.

“Although I was the founder of the club, the only responsibility I had was putting the team together,” David said. “The championship would not have been possible if not for the contribution of each and every member. I know that through this experience we all learned a lot about it.”

According to David, he found about the competition while researching for possible activities that the Rho Kappa National Social Studies Honor Society can partake in. He aims to spread this event and find more events regarding history in the future.

“During his presentation he was clearly very passionate about the honor society that he was trying to create,” said Grey Macklin, counselor. “Although we do not know what will happen after the club begins, David has great potential to make the club widespread and active especially because our school had a fondness for honor societies.”