Open letter to the graduating seniors of the Class of 2020

Congratulations on your graduations!  After 12 long years of school, you've made it.  Whatever awaits you next   --  college, work, volunteering or just time off --  it is important to recognize your accomplishments.

It is truly unfortunate that your lives got caught up in the pandemic.  Some of you may have been personally touched by loss, but all of you had to deal with missing out on what other senior classes have been able to experience.  Many schools/districts have done what they could to simulate some of these experiences  -- most notably graduation --  but I hope as time goes by, you are able create your own moments, and make your own memories that will last.

As MasterMinds participants, most of you were not able to close out the season the way you might have hoped.  Playoffs were cancelled, and most leagues were not even able to complete their regular seasons.  Plus most of you missed out on our closing speeches.  In the interest of providing you with some closure and some information, allow me a few moments to tell you what's next....

1)  The biggest item on our final meet checklist is getting contact information for graduating seniors, plus finding out where you are going to college.  We've been able to fill in some of the college destination gaps, but much of that remains missing.  And we have only a tiny fraction of the e-mails, Facebook addresses, Instagram accounts or other methods of contacting you.  If you've made it to this page, please know we'd love to have your contact info because...

1a)  One of the things we try and schedule over the summer are alumni games for new graduates.  What we normally do is ask the new graduates to provide some good days and times for holding these alumni sessions, then post the most popular options and allow people to sign up.  Those options are posted online at:  www.nymasterminds.com/events/alumnigames.html   These sessions are free  -- a thank you for participating --  and normally run a 2-3 hours.  At the sessions, we ask for some feedback regarding MasterMinds, play a few games (mixing up the line-ups after each round), and talk a bit about collegiate quiz bowl, focusing specifically on the colleges the new alumni will be attending.  It's a fun time, and gives you an additional opportunity to play.

2)  While we have had some success with finding out where you are going to college, we still have significant gaps in our lists.  We post your college destinations online  --  www.nymasterminds.com/program/seniors.html  --  in the hopes that you'll network with other alumni at college for rides to school or more significantly, playing collegiate quiz bowl.  Whether it's joining an existing program, founding a new club to play, or simply getting together with others to attend nearby tournaments, the opportunities to continue playing are out there.

3)  Your coaches did a wonderful job of returning all-star ballots.  We were able to announce all-star teams and school sportsmanship awards.
Find the list at:  www.nymasterminds.com/program/allstars.html.   Kudos to everyone selected and all those who received votes.

4)  With regards to collegiate quiz bowl, you'll find it's very wide-open.  Some schools have existing clubs but many do not.  The major player in the collegiate quiz bowl world is NAQT, the same organization that provides questions for MasterMinds and our middle school program Academic Challenge Bowl.  What is most notable about much of the quiz bowl universe is the freedom you are afforded.  Nearly all NAQT and NAQT-sanctioned events do not require teams.  You can even have a single individual simply pay whatever the entry fee might be for a given event, and participate as a one-person team.  And that is true for fall invitationals, or event the big Sectional Championship Tournaments held in February, which act as qualifiers for Nationals.  The opportunities are out there.

So what we are asking for is this:  Help Us.  Pass the word.  Send us an e-mail and give us your contact information.  If you know where your classmates are going to college, or players from other schools whom you met during the season, please help us fill in the gaps.  Give us your best days/times for alumni sessions (weekday, weekend; late morning, midday, late afternoon).  Go to our Facebook page  www.facebook.com/MasterMinds-145356308817009/  and join the MasterMinds Class of 2020 group.  We want to help you play; but we need assistance spreading the news.

Even with the coronavirus pandemic still lurking, we believe small groups of 6-8 people can safely participate in our alumni sessions.  We hope to spend much of early July connecting with players, and then post some alumni session options by mid-July with an eye towards holding sessions in late July/early and mid-August. 

But your help in reaching out will be important, especially with graduating seniors from other schools.

Lastly, we are continuing to work on our testimonials page  — www.nymasterminds.com/general/playercomments.html —  and if you’d like to contribute something, we’d love to include it.

So again, congratulations on your graduations!  I hope you are interested and can take advantage of the opportunity to participate in one of our alumni sessions.  And all of us at MasterMinds wish you nothing but success in all your future endeavors!

Sincerely

Scott Kroner
MasterMinds Commissioner