On February 25, 2025, the GCCC Quiz Bowl team boarded their flight to Chicago, Illinois, to compete at the National Academic Quiz Tournaments (NAQT) National Championship. This tournament hosted the top 24 collegiate quiz bowl teams in America. The quiz bowl team at GCCC has a five-year qualification streak and this year, GCCC came into the tournament with a national ranking of 15th.
On competition day, the team consisted of Phybee Madlangbayan, Keely Petrus, Veronica McCallum, Hamse Hassan and John Nguyen, all of the members besides Madlangbayan being freshman. Usually, the team is even on their specialties but this year each member boasted a more specific skillset. Nguyen was focused on math and chemistry, Hassan on social issues, McCallum on literature, Petrus on science and biology and Madlangbayan on art and literature. Each question bank would be different, so judging which Busters would be needed was difficult. After four of the five team members took their positions, the questions started, with a moderator reading off a prepared sheet of toss-ups and bonuses. Each round consisted of two 11-minute halves, usually having around 12 questions per half. The Busters faced off against tough competition and after 10 total rounds over two days, they ended the tournament with a ranking of 18th. Overall, the team was overjoyed with their performance. According to Madlangbayan, qualifying for nationals in and of itself is a difficult task, so they were happy to place where they did
The Quizards may have spent a large part of their trip competing but when they were not, they took advantage of their free time in Chicago.
When asked about the trip, “My favorite experiences were visiting the Art Institute, Ice Cream Museum and watching an improvised musical,” Madlangbayan, the only Quizzard to attend NAQT twice, said.
In addition to Madlangbayan’s favorites, the team watched a showing of Hamnet and live comedy, explored The Chicago Field Museum, took photos at Cloudgate (The Bean) and ate an alarming amount of deep-dish pizza. 
The national tournament for the GCCC Quiz Bowl team is not only an opportunity to compete against impressive teams from across the nation, but a chance for students to experience art, history, and culture previously unavailable to them. Now, the team has begun preparations for their state tournament and next year of competition, with the goal of continuing their qualification streak and qualifying for nationals next year.
