What makes a quizzer a good quizzer? And what makes a team a good team?
–K, C
I tell my student quizzers this all the time: that they have the potential to be the best. And it’s true: being a good quizzer, being a good student, being a good Christian, is based on your choices, your priorities. Good quizzers are those who spend their time studying and making sure their verses are memorized and mastered. This does not mean that you can’t have a life, but you should, if you want to quiz well, make memorizing a priority.
You also need experience. Not a lot really, because some quizzers (like myself) was blessed with an excellent coach to get me started into quizzing. Problem solving and critical thinking skills are also huge is distinguishing the good learners from the good quizzers. But issues like critical thinking and such can be learned from simply experiencing quizzing.
I would probably not have done so well if, in my first semester of quizzing, I did not go up to SCQANIT and Nationals to experience the best of the best. Granted, I did not quiz well that first semester, but I did not expect to, simply because I was new. It’s easy to quit quizzing when, after an unsuccessful quiz or two, you get discouraged.
Simply put, a good team is comprised of three or four good quizzers that complient each other. Maybe they quiz well together, have different chapters, or what, but I find that if you are friends with your team, the team does better. The best team I have ever seen was my own, in which 3 of my best friends were on a team with me (consisting of Heather Rigsby, Jeremy Heuslein, and Jordan Bond), and we almost always won.
Who do you think has the fastest jump in Bible Quiz?
And/Or
If you had a tossup question to win a tournament with an obvious answer who would you want jumping?
–Geometry, CO
Wow…. the fastest jump in Bible Quiz….
Well, I would have to say that I cannot pinpoint one specific person who claims the title of fastest jumper, but I know a few:
Korey Engel: He quizzed a couple years on the Master’s Academy middle school team, and he always found himself in the top 10 each competition, even though the child never really memorized anything. How does that work, you say? Well, Korey always sat by miss Cassy Fleming, a great quizzer all around, and she would always tell Korey the answer as he was getting up (which is not cheating, by the way, since the rules state that no talking begins when the quizmaster recognizes someone). Even without Cassy (because she would quiz out so often), Korey knew enough general information and had a such a fast response time that if the question was obvious, he would definitely get it.
Jeremy Heuslein: In the Bible Quizzing world, I have seen no one improve and become great faster than Jeremy. He first quizzed on my TMA team in the 2002-2003 year, traveled with me to SCQANIT once and NYC twice. After that he helped my RAMS team at my church, and now he is one of the best quizzers in the FQA. He is very, very fast: I can remember once at this year’s Kickoff Classic, when he would, one question after another, bounce up off his seat before the quizmaster had said 3 words, say an answer within the second, sit back down, and be ruled correct. For those who do not know him, you will very soon be seeing A LOT of him this next year.
Breanna Richardson: I’m sorry that all the people I am listing are from the wonderful state of Florida, but it’s not really my fault that Floridians are fast. Breanna quizzes for First Baptist down here, and while she is extremely fast, I kind of see her as the antithesis of Jeremy. Where as both Jeremy and Breanna will jump at the same time, Breanna will not make the mistake of blind guessing; she will more than likely employ the use of my theory, that is: If you have ten seconds to answer, why not use them. Breanna and I quiz alike in that respect, and I give full props to her for being the highest quizzer at SCQANIT in 2003, as well as making FBC-CF one of the toughest teams to overcome.
Jesse