Each year, students participating in UIL (University Interscholastic League) compete to win the Lone Star Cup, a prestigious award given to each of the highest-scoring schools in their respective districts.
“All academics, athletics, and arts are part of the Lone Star Cup,” Academic UIL Coach Temple Truax said. “We have the potential to win every year, and we’ve won many times.”
Some believe it involves taking a test or writing a paper. The reality involves much more in-depth studying and practice across a variety of subjects and focus areas.
“I’ve learned really strong test-taking skills… being able to take a test correctly and not making mistakes applies a lot in academia,” science team member sophomore Samarjeet Singh said.
Students who participate in UIL don’t have to rigorously practice every day. Instead, the reality of UIL involves practice sessions and retention with the rest of the participants in their class.
“To me, [writing an essay every week] is not very fruitful. What we do in practice is we look at different prompts and we brainstorm…” Ready Writing Coach Anne Balden said. “It’s really more holistic than just writing essays all the time.”
In the English parts of UIL competitions, such as Ready Writing, students are instructed to write from a prompt given moments before. Their response must be a well-developed essay with distinctive paragraphs and evidence used to support a unified claim.
“Think of it as the prompt is the hub of a wheel,” Balden said. “And the examples that you use are the spokes.”
Beyond personal academic growth, UIL competitions are a great addition to students’ resumes because of the time commitment and teamwork they require. With an influx of students who take the same classes, get the same grades, and play the same sports, colleges are looking for people who stand out.
“Winning a region or a state competition in the state of Texas is going to make you stand out because there is so much competition one must win to advance to that regional or state level,” Truax said.
In UIL competitions, everyone can contribute points to their school’s total points regardless of the category they participate in. No matter their placement, even just one additional point, or a successful tiebreaker, can win the Lone Star Cup.
“Even if you’re not the one winning the whole thing, that fourth person can really make a difference if you tie… everybody has their role,” Truax said.
By far, the most common misconception about UIL is that all of the participating students have to be A+ students or child prodigies. In reality, any kind of student can participate, as long as they have a passion for learning.
“You do have to kind of be a little competitive to want to win and to put in the work to win,” Truax said. “So it takes that special person who is dedicated enough to do the studying on their own and then also have that competitive edge.”
