At the end of last year, six students in Years 11 and 12 qualified for the Future Problem Solving International Conference (FPSIC) after multiple rounds of national competitions. From 30 May – 11June, Julia Sung, Bonnie Wang, Isobel Denton, Olivia Wei, Galathée Gaillard and Zara Toes travelled to Indianapolis, USA, to partake in the international round and along the way, visited other cities as well.
We first landed in Houston, Texas, where one of our highlights was visiting the NASA Space Centre. Opportunely, we got to talk to an ex-astronaut who had participated in multiple missions for NASA before, which was very interesting. In Houston, we also watched a MLB game between the Astros and the Twins. The home team unfortunately lost, but nonetheless, it was a fun and exciting experience.
We then went to Washington DC, where we visited famous museums and galleries such as the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, the Renwick Gallery and the Spy Museum. We also did a sunset bus tour of the whole city which allowed us to take in the stunning landscape of the area. It was also in DC that we tried the famous Raising Canes, which definitely lived up to our expectations.
Our last stop was Indianapolis, where the FPSIC was held in the campus of Indiana University. The conference was filled with insightful learning, meeting new people, and going out of our comfort zones. For example, in one of the competition categories, we had to do a performance of acting and singing in front of an audience, but working together as a team of six, we managed to place in the top 10 internationally! Overall, our Global Issues Problem Solving (GIPS) team were finalists, scoring 13th out of 53 teams internationally. Zara Toes came 11th as an individual competitor in GIPS and Galathée scored in the top twenty in her GIPS individual division. There were also a lot of other exciting activities prepared by the organisers, including the variety show, a senior forum, and the end-of-conference dance, which was all so much fun.
I think that I can speak for everyone on this trip that these 12 days were truly an amazing experience. We got to visit new places, develop new skills and meet new people, and also got to know each other a lot better. And so, on the 14-hour flight back, we agreed on this: that we would compete with more effort in future national rounds so that we can partake in the FPSIC again.
– Julia Sung, Year 12L