The sixth annual Wayne State College Geography Bowl was held last Wednesday in the Kanter Student Center. It was organized by Randy Bertolas, chair of the History, Politics and Geography Department, and Assistant Professor Lesli Rawlings.

“I did this when I was in college while I was working on my Ph.D.,” Rawlings said.

Bertolas is the master of ceremonies. The Geography Bowl has always been held during National Geography Awareness Week. A similar event called the College Knowledge Bowl use to be held at the public library. It was Rawlings idea to bring it to campus for students.

“It’s a way to have fun, win some prizes and learn some geography,” Bertolas said.

Eight teams made up of WSC students participated in the event. The teams were Make America Great Britain Again, Chocolate Malta, Murica, Team Extra Credit, Low Expectations, The French-American Alliance, The Unicorns and Wonder Worlds.

“I love doing this because it’s not just an adrenaline rush for the students, but for us professors as well,” Bertolas said. “It’s exciting to watch the students get excited.”

There are seven rounds with seven different sets of questions. The questions were a mix of fun and serious subjects.

“If it wasn’t fun, we wouldn’t be doing it,” Rawlings said.

Whoever attended received a ticket to enter to win a door prize.
Students from all majors were able to participate. Some teams even compete wearing matching shirts.

“We try to make everything fair because some questions can be tough,” Bertolas said. “We have other judges just in case we need to review a student’s answer.”

The French-American Alliance team, Nathan Pearson and Antoine Bardou, were this year’s champions.

For information on competing in the seventh annual Geography Bowl in September 2017, email Bertolas at [email protected] or Rawlings at [email protected].

“It’s the fastest 90 minutes on campus,” Bertolas said.