Have you heard of the “Super Bowl for Excel Nerds”?
Watch the video above about the Microsoft Excel World Championship, where 12 participants vied this past December to be crowned the world’s best spreadsheeter.
What do you think of this competition? How would you do if you were competing in it?
Is there a skill or talent you are so good at that you could win a contest?
In “Twelve Dudes and a Hype Tunnel: Scenes from the ‘Super Bowl for Excel Nerds,’” Yan Zhuang tells us more about the tournament:
Like soccer players taking the field in a giant stadium, the 12 finalists ran through a glowing “hype tunnel,” some wearing jerseys with sponsorship logos. As an announcer bellowed introductions and cameras captured their every move, they approached a neon-lit stage to raucous cheers.
Then the men sat down at desktop computers, opened their Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and began to type.
Excel, a program that does complex math on a human’s behalf, is often associated, rightly, with corporate drudgery. But last month, in a Las Vegas e-sports arena that typically hosts Fortnite and League of Legends tournaments, finance professionals fluent in spreadsheets were treated like minor celebrities as they gathered to solve devilishly complex Excel puzzles in front of an audience of about 400 people, and more watching an ESPN3 livestream.
Organizers call the event the Microsoft Excel World Championship. “Yes, it is a thing,” the official website says.
Maybe you can’t picture yourself winning this competition, but is there another skill or talent that you would like to learn or get better at?
In another article, “The Magic of Swimming Lessons in Middle Age,” Erik Vance writes about learning to swim as an adult:
I’ve never been a good swimmer.
I mean, I can swim. But what I do in a pool feels more like a battle for survival than a workout — especially after the first few laps. My legs are too long, my stroke is uneven and I constantly struggle to get a decent breath.
It’s not fun, which is why I rarely swim for fitness. Plus, swimming culture is intimidating, with its caps and goggles and rules about lane splitting.
But it’s great winter exercise, if you have access to an indoor pool. So I recently set out to become a better swimmer, with the help of my first lessons since grade school.
It turns out that you can get a lot better with just few lessons. And once you do, you suddenly have another option for an aerobic workout that’s easy on the joints.
Students, read one or both articles, and then tell us:
What is one skill you can do really well — something, for example, you might win a competition for if there were such a thing? How did you discover you had a talent for it?
How did you get so good at this skill? What expert tips could you share with someone who wanted to start or to improve?
What is a skill you’d like to learn or get better at? Why do you want to know how to do it? Who is someone who might be able to help you?
In general, do you like trying new things? Or, do you tend to stick with what you already know and do well? Why?
What is rewarding about getting good at something? What is challenging about it? Do either of these articles inspire you to want to try something new or to push yourself harder?
Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public and may appear in print.
Find more Student Opinion questions here. Teachers, check out this guide to learn how you can incorporate these prompts into your classroom.
