Top honours at National Psycholympiad

Psychology is a rapidly emerging discipline of the 21st century, involving the scientific study of the brain, mind and behaviour. It aims at promoting positive mental health and addressing specific concerns to benefit the well being of society at large.

In order to foster this core belief, Expressions India organised a National Psycholympiad to celebrate the Mysteries of the Human Mind and Behaviour. The two-day event was held on 23 and 28 August 2018 at the National Science Centre , Pragati Maidan.

The event attracted the participation of almost 50 schools from across Delhi and NCR. Each school was required to send an eight-member team of class XI and XII students to participate in different competitions. Our School team members were Mitali Nanda 12 D, Prabhsimran Kaur 12 E, Reva Kalra 12 D, Khyati Karana 12 D, Ananya Rao 12 D, Muskaan Sancheti 12 B and Epari Pratyash 11E.

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The activities on Day One commenced at 9:30 am with an inauguration and a brainstorming session. Dr. Jitendra Nagpal and the participants shared valuable insights and thoughts on psychology and mental health; the increasing need for psychologists and well-being practitioners, due to a double fold increase in stress and mental health issues.

The organisers then announced the schedule for the day. The first event was UTOPIA (theme based, on-the-spot painting competition) where Mitali and Prabhsimran got two hours to express their thoughts with paint on the theme Fighting against the stigma attached with mental health disorder.

Simultaneously, Reva, Khyati and Muskaan showcased their skills at the Poster Exhibition. The teams came armed with pre-designed posters prepared by them at school. Our poster depicted Interdisciplinary approach of Psychology. It presented information on the various new associations which are taking baby steps to associate psychology and other disciplines. For example, well-being practitioner, aviation psychologist, mathematical psychologist, etc. The entries were adjudged by an eminent panel of jurists- a trained art therapist, a doctor at Dr RML Hospital and Mr J. L. Pandey ( advisor Expressions India and former leader of adolescent program NCERT).

A three-member team from each of the participating schools sat for a preliminary written round of 100 questions in the NATIONAL PSYQUIZARD. Muskaan, Ananya and Mitali deftly handled the questionnaire in the allocated time of 90 minutes. The six highest scoring teams were to qualify for the final round.

Meanwhile, the organisers had planned an innovative activity for the teachers too. They engaged them in an informal activity where they were asked to create a caricature on the topic "Mind and Well-being". The teachers enjoyed themselves as they sketched their thoughts.

The day ended on an exciting note with all the teams looking forward to the result and the remaining events on day two, i.e. 28 August. The charged teams reconverged the next day for an interesting line-up of competitions - ELOQUENCE (extempore speech), YUVA MANCH (nukkad natak) and NATIONALl PSYQUIZARD (final round).

Jahnnobi Roy of Class 11 D displayed her oratorial skills as she spoke extempore on "We are the authors of our own success". Her flourish was acknowledged when she received the meritorious achievement award. In the nukkad natak round, our School was ably represented by Shrey Gogia 11A, Epari Pratyaksh 11 E, Vishesh Nagdev 11 C, Saksham Batra 11C and Jahnnobi Roy 11D. They depicted the theme of "peer pressure" effectively through a play on substance abuse and declining grades. Their performance won applause and appreciation from everyone in the audience. We were delighted to find that our quiz team of Muskaan Sancheti, Mitali Nanada and Ananya Rao had qualified for the final round of the National Psyquizard. The six finalist teams were seated on the stage and faced a volley of multiple-choice questions divided into four rounds and a tie-breaker round. In a keenly contested display of knowledge, alacrity and alertness our team emerged as the champion psyquizards! We also won the special jury prize for our entry in the poster exhibition. It was, indeed, a proud moment for us to win prizes in practically all the competitions at this grand conclave of young minds from among some of the best schools in the NCR.

The experience was immensely satisfying and enriching. We look forward to participating in more of these events to hone our craft and win accolades for the School.

Mitali Nanda XII.