<p>Because I've always wanted to be one of those people who knew everything.</p>
<p>AND you win money if you study enough, duh!</p>
<p>And it really helps out with your other classes. I'll bet it really feels good to goof off during a lecture becuase you've already studied and tested over it in Ac Dec. :)</p>
<p>And, atleast at my school, we are a very nice little community. I mean, this is free tutoring. AND free food! :9 PLus you get to meet intellectuals like yourself and make cool friends. Get phone numbers. Those contacts that helped you get Rooney tickets. Plus, the coach of my Ac Dec team is the CAS woman for the IB program. I'll be able to talk to her all I want about my questions.</p>
<p>And, Ac Dec is really going to help me with my interview skills, impromptu skils, and PUBLIC SPEAKING. Oh, and essays. We have to write small essays. I'm sure I'll be very good by the time I graduate.</p>
<p>AND at my school, you get credit for AP english, economics, speech, AND it boosts your GPA because you get 100s just for showing up. And Ac Dec is considered an 'honors' class. So yah, I'm expecting my rank to raise quite a bit. XD top 5%, here I come!</p>
<p>^_^ I don't think I'll ever be good enough to be the captain. But you know, its great to have a club where its not a bad thing to say "I like to learn!"</p>
<p>A piece of music is definitely William Byrd Sweet. I am pumped because I played it in band and therefore I am 99% sure I will medal in it. I got a ton of honorable mentions (like 8-9) last year but only one medal (bronze in economics).</p>
<p>i didnt study one minute and still pulled a 2nd place medal in math. so it basically depends...if you know the stuff then its a breeze but if you dont then yeah i would study at least 1 hour a week.</p>
<p>Alright, I came back from our first meet. It was from 8 to 4. We CHOSE it to be this long mind you. Hehe, to fit our oh-so-busy summer schedules. Our usual meetings are only 3 hours long.</p>
<p><strong>blah blah ahead</strong>
What happened was, apparently our coach assigned the seniors to do some research and preparation to teach us the basics of each subject. Its fun IF the student is a good teacher. Unfortunately, the girl teaching geometry was... not very good. I really feel that I can do a better job. I hope I'll do well enough on the tests that I can take her place because its just annoying. We had some freshman college students come in who were in ac dec last year and teach. This one guy was really good. I think Economics will be much less confusing, now.</p>
<hr>
<p>We had snacks and what not. It was fun because our mates are pretty cool.</p>
<p>We have some 'assignments' to do.
- Find 3 topics for essay and write an outline for one
- negative and positive art stuff
- read superbowl quiz packet and lang/lit packet</p>
<p>Yeah, we got the rest of our packets today. Does anyone else have 'em?</p>
<p>Yeah, we have all of them. The Superquiz (haha, superbowl quiz) packet is SOO dull... what i read of it anyway, and its not too much... Science is much more interesting, even if there are some mistakes in it, haha. </p>
<p>We have been meeting everyday this week, and we have just finished art fundamentals... Fun, fun.</p>
<p>Is this really worth it? We are required to take a study hall at our school if we make the team plus about 300 hrs total of studying for a year.
Our schools been in the top 5 nationals and national winners in our division for several years in a row now, but is it good to not take a class and join decathlon instead?</p>
<p>I was going to take 6 or 7 APs next year, but since I'm going to be in 3 highly competitive clubs (one AD, which I'm starting up, and 2 other ones, both that we are (inter)nationally ranked in), I decided to take only 5 APs and have 2 study halls. IMO it is worth it because these clubs teach you things that you can't learn in a classroom. Not just academics, but a lot of other things too...</p>
<p>if it means anything, i'm from nj and my school got into states with: no studying, no comprehension, and the bare minimum of people on our team. we actually showed up at the competition and were like- "wait. what's thiss year's theme? what?! we have to make a speech?! .. oops" </p>
<p>it depends on your district, relaly. if the schools around you study lots, then it ups the ante. then again, some schools around here DO study, so i've really got to attribute our winning to lady luck and loads of common sense. it'll get you far!</p>
<p>Academic Decathlon is awesome! So much fun and free food! At my school its purely for fun - no credit or anything, but we are usually good enough to get some scholarships and tons of medals. You get out of it what you put in. And even if you dont study, you'll make tons of friends - my team is basically a family. And if you're good you'll medal a lot - I've been in decathlon for 3 years now, and I've won over 40 medals. If you want to learn more, yea, check out USAD.org or demidec.com, esp their message board if you have any questions. I definitely encourage everyone to join it if they have decathlon at their school. Go Decathletes!!!!!!!!!</p>
<p>IMO its worth it. You should go ahead and take your classes unless your school gives you credit. The club will help you make better grades if you manage your time right.</p>