Paws Romana Volume IV Issue II | Page 4

2 YALE CERTAMEN The Entire Novice Team at Yale NOVICE CERTAMEN One of my most vivid memories of certamen was from National Convention over the summer. As I watched my fel- low BLS students answer tossups with a speed I could not begin to comprehend, I was awestruck by their immense knowledge as they answered toss-up after toss-up against some of the best competition from around the country. As you can imagine, these are big footsteps to follow in. But my teammates Jack Trapanick, Trygve Aarestead, Alex Chou, and I were ready to prove ourselves worthy at this year’s Yale certamen tournament. Throughout the prelims, we faced some stiff competition from other schools, but we persevered through these tough rounds to the semi- finals as the 5th seed. It was a daunting task and unfortunately, we ended up being eliminated after a close game against Hunter College High School, the team that would eventually win the Novice level of the tournament. On behalf of all of my teammates and myself, I would like to thank Ms. Moguel and Mr. Bartoloma for being such great coaches and supporting us all the way. We are working harder than ever before, and you all better believe that the BLS Novice Team is ready to win. -Aidan Chen, Class V