Spreadsheet Champions (2025)

[bunniefuu]

[keyboard clicks]

[computer whirring up]

[keyboard clacking]

[woman] I think everyone

is good, but I am better.

[laughs]

It's definitely

a tonne of pressure

resting on my shoulders

for Australia.

I'll do something,

I'll check if it works,

and if it works,

we're good to go.

So, you have this group

of people who might be nerds.

You know, they're geeks.

They're representing

their country

in a competition that is brutal.

[man] They know the stakes

are high,

and it's going to change

that person's life forever.

They'll forever

be the world champion.

That one question can make

all the difference.

Just don't royally mess up.

[man] You know, not everybody

walks away with a medal.

Because if they didn't cry,

that means that the exam

wasn't good enough.

Oh, this is going to be good.

[cheers]

[man] Word, Excel,

and PowerPoint.

Most everybody in the world

uses Word

and Word can do some

pretty sophisticated things.

PowerPoint also.

Excel is a different level.

[woman] So, this is going to be,

I believe,

the back of the stage,

and you can see there's so many

different moving parts

happening right now

for this setup.

It's going to be

pretty incredible, pretty big.

You cannot walk off the street

and win this championship.

In fact, I would bet you

wouldn't even finish the exam.

[man] So, most people

in day-to-day use of Excel

where you understand

basic formulas and functions,

they probably use 10 to 15%.

These students are being

pressured to understand and use

60, 70% of that or more.

The competition content

that Bing has created,

he stretches what you will know

about Excel

and he will punish you.

Bing is not an evil genius.

Bing is precise and methodical.

He is focused on

creating a challenge

that will truly measure

an individual's greatness.

This year's tests are definitely

the most challenging ones

we've ever developed.

As students generally perform

better and better

in the competitions,

we have to raise the bar

and make the exam even harder

to find the best of the best.

[Steve] And these students

will absolutely be challenged,

there is no question.

I do believe that this will be

one of the hardest tests

that they've taken.

It would not surprise me

if we do see tears.

[woman] Most students

in reality,

they're not going to win,

even though they all are smart,

even though they all work hard.

I just really want them

to know that they're celebrated

and they're worth celebrating.

In five days, the competition

will kick off,

and it will culminate

in the excitement

that's been building up

for well over a year

for many of these competitors.

At this time, some competitors

are starting to make their way

to Orlando, Florida.

['Toccata and Fugue in D minor'

by Bach plays on keyboard]

I have always thought I am a

bizarre person and I know that,

and I know that everyone knows

that I'm ridiculous

and everyone knows that

I'm ridiculous.

I'm always interested

in complicated,

buttony things, you know?

[plays scale]

[man] Mason has been always very

comfortable in his own skin.

He, in elementary school,

wore bright purple socks

up to above his knees with

plaid pants and a tie-dye shirt.

He called it Fashion Friday.

-Like colour vomit.

-And he just doesn't care.

It's commentary.

It's satire.

It's really not, but, you know.

He definitely walks

to the beat of his own drummer.

I call that shameless

self-expression,

and it's something I've told him

that I hope he never loses.

This is my national

championship cheque.

I liked having a giant cheque.

It is in my room

and I love it dearly.

Eclectic craziness is in here.

OK, clearly,

it does not like this.

It's fine.

We'll make it work.

No, we won't. Alright.

Well, I have a little

printing calculator.

It does a bunch of cute stuff.

So, it's like a mirror,

and then this one sort of

acts more like a magnet.

I like playing around

with electronics.

I love programming

with computers.

I love using computers.

The organ is really borne out

of passion,

and the piano is just something

that I randomly was like,

"I should play piano."

Mason tends to be

a little forgetful

because his mind is full

of other things.

[morse code beeping]

And that's my name

in Morse code.

You mean when he forgot

to take the - wash the shampoo

out of his hair the other day?

Yes.

While he does things

like that, he owns it

and that's just part of

who he is.

I use Excel more than

most people would

in my day-to-day life.

I mean, you can understand that.

I'm a complete nerd.

I'm a very social nerd at that.

You can ask my friends.

Um, but...

Um, yeah.

Alkmini is not new

in the competition.

She has also competed

about another two times

in the national final.

[man] So, we have all the

soccer trophies

through many years of soccer.

The certificates for

the Microsoft competition,

and then we have the trophy

for the Microsoft competition,

the glass one, which was sent

over by Microsoft,

and my school presented it to me

at assembly.

Mr Wilkinson,

because he was presenting,

he really overplayed it.

So, he was like,

"Oh, magnificent achievement

"going all the way to Florida

to represent Australia."

So hyped up, and yeah.

Whenever I was in prep

or anything, or year one,

just had like a math solution,

I'd figure it out straight away.

I'd be that one person

in the class

who'd look forward

to the math test.

[man] He's always had

a natural ability

to work stuff out

really quickly,

and he's kind of self-taught

in a way,

because he's just so curious.

In school and stuff, especially,

I find stuff like assignments

really difficult,

and I find - 'cause I'm really

good at memorising things,

but then other stuff

like just writing assignments,

I just can't do that

to save my life.

I want to go more into Apple

game development when I grow up.

Although he did want

to be a famous soccer player.

Yeah, he did. Yeah, so...

Could be running

out of time for that, perhaps.

He's a good goalie though.

But you know.

Anyway, we'll see.

I think...

I think it's a bit boring.

I don't know how Braydon

finds it fun.

Yeah, I reckon he could win.

I think Braden's got

the potential to go all the way.

His speed of actually being able

to complete the assessment

is phenomenal.

He's one of

the quickest students

I've ever seen go through.

[Braydon] I didn't find

the Australian competition

very hard.

Like, I'd go through and there's

nothing that I didn't know,

and the questions

I got wrong were,

like, just...

There was maybe one question

I just hadn't learned yet

'cause it wasn't on any of

the practise exams or anything.

I didn't know there was an Excel

competition, to be honest.

Um, I'm pretty happy

I know now, so...

They didn't really understand

like how it would work

and how the Excel questions...

I don't think a lot - many

people at all understand,

like how you can have

a competition

on just Microsoft Excel.

[woman] This year, just under

a half a million

students tried to qualify

for the 2023 world championship.

I mean, it's not yet

to the degree of Comic-Con,

you know, where people

are dressed up,

but you get some

pretty passionate people

about software.

We've had several people

offered jobs in the airport

because they were world

champions on their way home.

So many of them, I don't know

where they would have been

had they not had

this opportunity.

I think it really - it does,

it changes their trajectory,

so it's pretty amazing.

For example, we have our

2022 silver medallist in Excel,

that he got

a very huge opportunity

in a university in the US.

He got a full scholarship.

I don't have to express

how much of an opportunity

that is for him.

Yeah.

This is my room tour.

So, here we have the desk

where I do my studies, homework,

everything

with just a little

reminder of my friends.

Here is where

I keep all my mess.

Bags, bags, bags and bags.

Uh, my One Direction book

and One Direction perfume.

I remember being born

and being a Directioner,

and I wanted to be a YouTuber.

Like, I really wanted to be one,

and I stole my parents' phone,

and I put up my flashlight

and I was like, "Hi, welcome

to my YouTube channel."

I didn't have one.

I just created it

by imagination.

Imagine. I could be like

a YouTuber and an Excel winner.

I like sleeping,

that's my number one hobby.

Like, I love sleeping,

I love napping,

but at the same time,

I like to study a lot.

Math is just like

my comfort zone.

Like, ever since I remember,

I was good at math.

Everyone's like, "Oh no,

we have math class right now."

And I'm like, "We have

math class right now!"

It's like... It's pretty nice.

I don' know.

[singing in French]

[singing in French]

[singing in French]

[man] The Excel winners,

they're incredibly smart.

They're probably the ones

that have the highest GPAs

that do really well

in the STEM technology.

Science, technology,

engineering and math.

These are elite Excel users.

These are almost elite

Excel athletes.

It is the language

and the currency of the future,

and without it, it's going

to be more difficult.

So, education and data literacy,

there could be no more

two important skills

to learn than these.

When students are going

through this competition,

they are developing

these essential

data literacy skills

that ability to understand data,

ability to get meaning out of

that data is an essential skill

that will help these

students in any future job.

This is the Microsoft

Worldwide Competition Lab,

and so this is the lab

where the students

will take their

competition exam.

So, we've just finished

setting it up.

We've got a couple of final

checks to make sure

that everything is working,

that power plugs are charging

the laptops like they're

supposed to, that mice work.

So, we'll just go through

and touch each machine,

make sure all is well.

We have less than I have

for people who have access

to the actual creative

instructions for this year.

It's in a sealed envelope

that the student then has to

break open,

and there's some of that

is for drama.

But most of it largely

is for security.

And everyone, we're going to be

starting shortly

once Bing gives me the OK.

-Three, two...

-OK.

I just love looking

into his eyes...

Three, two, one, go!

Ooh, and that worked.

-Yeah.

-Y'all can't see this.

But it worked.

"Manage your time wisely,

"keep track of the time

during the exam

"to ensure you complete

all three sections.

"When you're ready to start,

select the start exam button."

OK, no more videotape.

Don't read the actual question,

please.

I won't, I won't.

No. You're nervous

and I love it.

Yes, I am nervous.

You don't need to feel that.

[laughs]

I have no idea.

Like, I just know it's going

to be a 100-minute exam.

Like, they're very...

They're very like hush-hush

about it,

like, the details.

[smooth electronic music]

BING: The exam is broken down

into three sections.

Section one

is the knowledge section.

It's a series of questions

to see how much they know

about Excel,

without access to Excel.

This section tests competitors

on their memory

of Excel's essential features

as well as its history.

Many of the features in Excel

have been there from

previous legacy programs,

dating back decades.

[upbeat electronic music]

[man] When you hear the word

'spreadsheet',

most people think of

Microsoft Excel.

But a spreadsheet used to be

an actual piece of paper.

Until these two graduates

had an idea.

My name is Dan Bricklin

and people call me the father

of the electronic spreadsheet.

I was a student at Harvard

Business School,

and we would be discussing

and learning

about different

business problems.

We had blackboards, we'd write

numbers on them,

and then you'd say, "Well, what

if this was a different number?"

And then you'd have to do

all the calculations,

and I sort of imagined that

there was a magic blackboard,

that you could erase a number

and write a new number in,

and all the calculations

would recalculate,

and I started building

what we now know

as electronic spreadsheet.

I came up with the idea

of the columns and the rows

and A-B-C, one, two, three.

Now, we've set this up, OK?

Then we type a new value in.

OK, here, I'm going to

take that 100

and I'm going to change it,

right,

and here it recalculates.

Whoa!

That saved me so much time!

You can do things before,

which would take weeks to do

in 15 minutes.

[man] The time and money

business saved was astronomical.

So, the spreadsheet became

the language of business.

It was the first time in history

that people were

buying computers

to run software,

and VisiCalc was only available

on Apple.

This is what propelled

the success of Apple

beyond anyone's

wildest expectations,

and revolutionised

the personal computer.

The spreadsheet became

a significant part

in the rise of the computer era.

No matter what industry

you're in,

it relies on

a spreadsheet somewhere,

even if you're not

using it yourself.

It's here for the long haul

because spreadsheets

rule the world.

[woman] It is the core building

block for most businesses,

as well as the

core building block

for artificial intelligence.

So, when we build AI,

essentially we build it

on databases and spreadsheets.

[Dan Briklin]

It's a general purpose tool,

and we threw in everything

but the kitchen sink

because we wanted it to be good

for so many different things.

We didn't know which one would

be the one it was best for.

It turned out all of them,

thank god.

OK.

Oh, this is a heavy door.

-OK?

-That works.

[lift bell rings]

If only there was

a plastic ball...

"Good eve..." Wow!

Does it say,

"Good evening, Mason"?

Mason, it's time to relax.

That's your specialty.

Yeah, it is.

That's true, that's true.

-What are you doing?

-You'll hurt...

What are you doing?

What are you doing?

No, no, no.

I can use my feet as well.

This will end in tears.

I guess they have little themed

key cards for the competition.

At the national competition,

I accidentally wiped

two of them with my phone.

I wiped two key cards.

You may say what?

-I don't even remember.

-Hello.

Yeah, I did.

If you put it up

against your phone.

They don't do that

on newer phones.

NFC just kind of fell off

after Android 12.

You can't you can't do

that with your new phone?

No.

-Are you sure?

-Mm-hm.

My dad, he is very technology

oriented like me.

I find him to be very similar

to me in a lot of ways.

Every time.

How's this?

-Bidirectional shade.

-Works for me.

We do, we do a lot of

activities together

because our interests

are so aligned.

People will very much say that

he takes after me

in a lot of regards.

[Mason] Ham radio is called

amateur radio,

but you can talk to people

all around the world.

I've talked to people all around

the world.

There we go!

It is an interesting community

of mostly old men.

I don't know why,

I couldn't tell you why.

But someday,

I will be that old man.

I think my parents

just want to be supportive.

I don't really know

what they think about all this.

[woman] I was just thrilled

he got to compete.

Honestly, never crossed

my mind that he'd win it.

I mean, I'm not surprised,

but, like, it's nationals,

I don't know, I just didn't

I didn't, I don't know.

I didn't dare think

about him acing it,

and then it's like,

it's Mason. Of course he did.

[laughs]

I mean, I've never seen

him break under pressure,

but when he's at school here,

he's surrounded by

other kids his age

that are none of them

as smart as he is.

He walks into a room,

and he's always the smartest kid

in the room.

But now,

you're walking into a room

with all the other smartest kids

in the room, you know?

And so just getting to be there,

and then if you win,

it's a bonus.

Yeah.

It's like, "Oh, and by the way,

I also got to win."

[electronic music]

Hi, Mason! How are you?

Good. How are you?

It's going to be the M.

The Todd.

That is me.

-My email buddy.

-That's right.

Mason Braithwaite.

That's me.

So, I have just registered.

I have my lanyard.

They gave me a goodie bag.

When I got here,

I was really tired,

but I couldn't sleep.

I think just like the nerves

and, like, emotions.

Right. He's 15 years old.

15 years old? Oh, OK.

You're in university?

Yeah, I'm in university.

I'm final year.

What are you studying?

I'm studying economics.

Economics of foreign trade.

-Oh, OK.

-[chuckles ] Yes.

I've met the Excel

Vietnamese competitor.

I didn't get his name,

but he was very nice to me.

Um, he's a lot older

than me, though.

Good. Welcome.

And what is your first name?

-Braydon.

-Braydon.

What?

I miss my family a lot.

It would be fun to have

this experience with them.

[laughter]

I love that we are

a very close family.

Being the youngest,

it really helped me

to become the way I am.

[laughter]

I know it sounds like,

oh, I'm spoilt,

but I'm grateful for that.

[speaking Spanish]

My sister and I have

a really close relationship.

Like, we tell each other

everything.

[lively music]

At the competition,

it's going to be really weird

not having her

by my side, like,

the whole time.

We are keyboard testing today.

I've got mine. My dad has the

two backups we brought with us.

One is none.

Two is one, but one backup

is none backup.

So, we have two backups

for one backup.

[laughs]

It's surprising to see

the different personalities

that a candidate might have

in just how they come in,

sit down,

what they do on the keyboard.

Some will walk in, like I said,

and just say,

"Well, this is good, I'm fine.",

and others will fret

and worry about

mouse speed

and about the connection.

It's just checking to see

that it works

and that it's not

breaking any rules,

which I doubt three backups

will break any rules.

Um... So...

And you're gonna make sure

that all keys function...

Yep. Uh-huh.

...and perform

to specifications.

-All of the above.

-Love it.

In order to avoid cheating,

we validate the keyboards

to make sure that they're

not programmable.

Any kind of keyboard

that has lights or makes sound.

We made that mistake one year

where like, it was like,

a disco in here

because all these kids

brought these

tiny little cute keyboards

and like... [gibberish sounds]

It will be right here

when you come to test.

At the computer, OK?

-Thank you.

-Yeah, no problem. Good luck.

Go have fun.

I didn't bring my own keyboard,

but they're gonna lend me one,

so it's fine.

I honestly just forgot that we

were able to bring a keyboard.

But I'm happy with the one

on the laptop anyway.

The hardest or the biggest

challenge for Braden

is going to be

slowing his mind down

to ensure that his accuracy

is at the highest level

on every single question.

Reading that question thoroughly

and understanding it.

BING: Section two

is the application section.

This section tests

critical thinking,

problem solving, and accuracy.

Competitors are given

blank workbooks

and a series of

challenging questions.

It's a little bit pun intended

or unintended.

It depends on how

you look at it.

So, it's the application of your

knowledge in the application.

One of the questions

in this section

tests on Excel's

accuracy limitations

in handling large numbers

using the Fibonacci sequence,

where each number is the sum

of the previous two

and the numbers grow quickly.

Excel becomes inaccurate

after the numbers grow

beyond 15 digits.

Competitors must identify

and work around

this Excel limitation.

In real world scenarios,

accuracy is crucial.

[man] Ignition sequence starts.

Six, five, four, three,

two, one, zero.

Impact of accuracy

is high stakes

when you're sending things

to space.

Aerospace engineering,

the mechatronics, electronics,

and all of those areas

that are in charge of

the systems,

the hardware,

the whole ship that's going

to take your things to space.

It's high stakes

if you make a mistake

and don't catch it.

Each individual person

has around 3 billion letters

in their genome.

When you get cancer,

you get mutations or typos

and our job is to search

through that data

and identify where the typo is.

So, if we miss something

important in the data,

then it might be that a patient

misses out

on some life saving treatment.

You know, things happen here

that matter...

that will affect the world.

So, take it seriously.

Preparing them

ahead of the time,

knowing that, anticipating

potential difficulty

will allow them to calm down

and be mentally ready

for the challenge,

rather than freak out during

the test and started to cry.

Hmm. Yes.

Yes, I see.

Yeah. I see. OK.

Yes.

Living in Cameroon

is not really easy.

So, not always to go,

you are not going...

always going to have a straight

line in front of you.

So, you have to think

of other ways to do something.

So, I think that is a way

to be an advantage for them,

because they already know

that every road

is not always going to be

the straight one.

[indistinct chatter]

De La Paix doesn't have

a laptop.

Unfortunately, he hasn't,

he doesn't have one,

so he usually comes to school

and uses one of

the school's labs.

Cameroon students,

they face a lot of challenges.

They lack infrastructure.

You will find students

who may have the computers.

They may lack access to internet

connectivity,

which is not cheap in Cameroon,

and at times it is

not readily available.

In Guatemala, there's not

like that good level

in many schools.

When I got into the competition

here in Guatemala

I saw a lot, a lot of boys.

If I like, looked around,

they were pretty much all boys.

With this exam, the reason

we do offer it globally

is so that we do have

that equity, right,

that we are able to

allow everyone

the same opportunity,

whether they live in

a small village in Africa

or whether they live in

New York City.

So, competitions like this

profile the extraordinary

talent that we need

to have at the table

to be building

the machines that are going

to run society in the future.

Creativity in Excel

is especially important

because not all people are going

to be in a position in life

where they're crunching numbers,

and that's really what we

challenge them to do,

is take a lot of data

and make it useful.

BING: Section three

is the creativity section.

Competitors are given

a substantial data set.

They must visualise the data

in a pivot chart,

showcasing their ability to find

meaningful patterns in raw data

and transform this into clean

and insightful visuals.

A lot of competitors

find this section challenging.

For others,

this is their opportunity

to think outside the box,

and show off Excel

for all its capabilities.

When you're a scientist

and you're a specialist

in your area,

you know a bunch

of stuff with scientific terms,

things that only you

and your colleagues

are going to understand.

So, you have to

come with creativity

when you want to

pass this information

to the general public

so that they'll understand,

they'll get your point,

and they'll understand

also like the significance

of the work that you're doing.

So, running numbers

for the sake of numbers

is not particularly useful,

and the challenge comes

often that you have people

that are skilled in numbers

and data analysis

but are not skilled

in communication.

So, if we find a data analyst

who can communicate,

these people are gold.

Select the data

that's important,

that's going to

transmit the story

and the information

that you're interested in,

and then plot it in a way

that's understandable

and beautiful, like, to the eye.

["Always on my mind"

by Pet Shop Boys plays]

So, you have this group

of people

who might be nerds,

who might be, you know,

they're geeks

and all these other labels

that can apply to them,

and yet they are in so many

ways, just like their peers

in that they're

still adolescents,

and they're remarkable.

These students,

naturally, a lot of them

are shy.

They're introverts.

They're not really

the social butterflies.

A big part of the competition

is helping students

to build their self-esteem.

[woman] I really want

the students to know

that they are intelligent

and that they are capable,

and that they're

worth celebrating.

[music continues]

[cheering]

[woman] Today is testing day.

It is a big day

for all of the students.

Everyone... You can see

how nervous everyone is

as they're walking through.

We've seen a couple students

practising on their computers

to try to prep.

It's so wonderful to know

that De La Paix

plus all the other champions

we came with from Cameroon,

they were full of energy,

somehow.

I was expecting they were going

to be tired after the trip.

Far more than I can say,

30 hours to get here.

I haven't slept that much,

actually,

so I'm pretty angry at that.

I'm missing a lot in my family,

mostly my sister,

because she's usually there by,

"No, you're gonna be fine."

And I need that, like,

feeling relaxed with them.

Even if it was just he asked for

a pencil or whatever.

Anything that we can document.

Do we each have a pad?

I think Braden

has the potential.

But when you're put in a room

and there's fireworks flowing,

the heart's racing,

and you're in the middle

of that competition,

keeping his cool is going

to be his biggest challenge.

Right now, the nerves

are a little like sinking in,

but I think I'm gonna do great.

I think I'm just

feeling anxious.

I'm...

It's like just waiting.

Waiting it out.

I'm pretty confident I should

at least be able to do well.

That confidence

will take him far,

but it's also his Achilles heel.

He is a lot younger

than the other competitors,

and that could be

a little bit difficult

on your confidence.

I think I'm just worried, right?

I know the first part

of the test,

I'm like, I can do that.

That's easy.

The second part of the test

is completely unknown to me.

So, it's going to be a mystery

about like

what's going to happen.

Cameroon has never won

a gold medal before,

and I believe in his skills

and I believe he will make it.

Concentrate on

a particular option

or a particular objective.

Finish that one before

trying to do something else.

Apart from that,

he's good to go.

Alright, everybody,

let's pump 'em up! Let's go!

[applause and cheering]

[tense soundtrack]

[tense soundtrack building]

So, I want everyone

to take a deep breath.

We will begin in

three, two, one, start.

[tense soundtrack]

You just feel a sense

of heaviness in the room

as the students seriousness

about what was happening

was palpable.

[Bing] They need to know

not just the features,

not just the cover.

They also need to look inside

and understand why it works,

how it works,

instead of just knowing

it works this way.

These students, their knowledge

of the program is superior

to most of their peers,

and they're here in a

competition that is brutal.

[tense soundtrack]

How can I return

to a previous section?

You cannot go back.

I cannot go back?

Yeah, it's one way.

You made it...

At the beginning it said

you cannot go back.

Does that mean I cannot go

back to the section one?

No.

[tense soundtrack]

[tense soundtrack]

Hey, everyone,

go ahead and put the rest

of your papers in your envelope.

We'll be around to gather

your results shortly, OK?

That's alright.

We'll see how we go?

-Can we go?

-Yeah, sure.

Braydon came out of the test

and everything,

every emotion and feeling

just came out, and...

They had said that the

Australian student had given up,

had kind of, you know,

it had defeated him.

It seemed to me that he felt

as if there wasn't much point.

I think part of the reason

we make this so difficult,

in addition to

what we said earlier

about finding

the best of the best,

is to also to test someone's

ability to deal with the stress

during a limited time, right?

And there will be students

who absolutely are frustrated

who will leave this event

feeling that they did not get

a fair shake,

that it was too hard.

A myriad reasons for that.

It's not easy and it's not

supposed to be easy.

A lot of students

are walking out

feeling a little discouraged.

I've heard a lot of students

talk about how difficult

the test was this year.

Um, and I hope that even though

it was difficult

that they still feel

proud of themselves.

As soon as I saw the first

section, I was like,

OK, this is weird.

Uh, like my head

was like, what do I do now?

But I think I did

what was correct.

I did my best, and whatever

happens, happens.

I can go to sleep now,

like peacefully, completely,

and listen to One Direction.

I think I did better than most.

-That's...

-I did some really weird things

that worked out pretty well.

-OK.

-So...

-We'll see what happens.

-Right.

[humming quietly]

Go see my baby

Go...

I want a lot of people to win.

There are so many nice people,

but in the end of the day,

it's not about

whether they're nice.

It's about their skills, so...

The first two sections

of the tests were scored

completely automatically.

For the last section,

which is the creativity section.

Due to the

nature of subjectivity,

we actually require human judges

to follow a detailed rubric.

Do you feel... Excited?

-Nervous?

-I am...

Excited. 114.

So, for the Excel competition,

the winners are very clear.

How many phones

do you keep on you?

-You have that old flip phone.

-I have two...

OK. So, if one is none.

-Two is one.

-I have two phones on a trip,

but I actually have

a third phone

that I always leave

in my travel bag.

Wow.

Today, my dad's coming

for the ceremony

and I'm just so excited.

So, today is awards day.

I am feeling queasy.

So, no breakfast.

I think I'm more curious

just to find out how I did,

rather than if I won, per se.

Like, they're going to put

the top ten on their blog,

and I'm like, I wonder

if I'll be in there.

That's, I think, about

20% of the contingent.

And I would say

I'd be in the top 20%.

That wouldn't surprise me.

As I've gone around and I've

talked to a lot of students,

it's all nervous or some will

show me their hands shaking.

To be in the top three

is phenomenal

because they literally

are the best in the world.

They're in there

for the recognition.

They want to walk out of there

with a medal.

Welcome to the

Microsoft Office Specialist

World Championship event.

[applause and cheering]

One announcement will change

that person's life forever.

It's a big deal.

It's a world champion

returning home as a hero.

Are you excited to be here?

You have battled

the best in the world

to get to this stage today.

This is one of the largest

IT competitions in the world.

You're the best of the best.

Your national champions,

and today, we will crown

the world champions

in Microsoft Word, Excel

and PowerPoint.

Are you ready to find out

who our champions are?

[applause and cheering]

In the category

of Microsoft Word,

Thi Minh Anh Dang of Vietnam.

[applause and cheering]

Thi Thanh Truc Nguyen

of Vietnam.

It would like help me

as like a person

to pursue more of my dreams.

[applause and cheering]

Our third place winner...

-China...

-Bronze medallist...

PowerPoint...

-Our second place...

-Taiwan...

And silver medallist...

Sora Takaya of Japan.

World champion.

The first place winner

and gold medallist.

Alright, we're now moving

into our last category

of the day,

Microsoft Excel,

and remember, whatever happens

today, win or lose,

you are all champions.

Alright, announcing

our third place,

bronze medallist goes to...

Songglod Petchamras of Thailand.

[applause and cheering]

Alright, moving on to

our second place winner

and silver medallist.

That winner is...

Jamie Kildea of Ireland.

[applause and cheering]

Alright, let's get on the edges

of our seats.

Our world champion

gold medallist goes to...

Yuxiang Lin of Macau, China.

[applause and cheering]

While we don't announce

the top ten

from the stage

for each category,

go to certiport.com

and you will see the list

of all the top ten

of the Microsoft Office

competition.

[applause]

And even if you do not succeed

in this particular competition,

it always allows you

to take something home

and to think, to learn

and to improve on.

[applause and cheering]

...compete in another category

if you haven't already.

In the meantime,

safe travels home.

Thank you for coming.

I came tenth.

Did you? [laughs]

Well done, mate!

You came tenth!

Good on you, mate!

He came tenth!

I came tenth.

[laughter]

That's magic! That's brilliant!

Yeah, did you see who got tenth?

-Yeah.

-Yeah, congratulations!

Thank you.

Very proud of him. Very proud.

Top ten in the world.

It's amazing.

I'm very happy for Braydon

about him coming top ten

'cause he thought

he did really bad.

I'm definitely glad

that I came here.

That's why it's been,

like, a great experience.

Super proud of you, buddy.

Well done.

[cheering]

She's a very good example

for girls in our country

because technology

is not always so important

for some schools.

Other girls see

they can do this also.

It's amazing.

I got top seven, so...

I have to text Miss Jenny

right now.

My friend is already, like,

texting me.

Like, "I'm so proud of you!"

So, probably she already knows.

Yeah, my dad's here.

I saw him and I was like, OK.

The relief of seeing someone,

like someone I know,

and someone from home be here.

It's so good.

I feel very proud of myself.

I thought the exam was pretty

different and kind of difficult.

I really didn't believe

in myself, but I did good.

[singing in French]

[singing in French]

[cheering]

I told him before

that we were proud of him,

and I told him after

that we were proud of him

and he's still mowing the lawn

when we get back home.

I'd like to get him fed

because he hasn't

eaten anything today.

So, that's the mum priority,

is getting him fed,

and then just seeing

what we could do

to help him relax a little bit

and enjoy

the rest of the experience.

After the nationals, I was like,

oh, I practised that much

and I get this much back.

So, like, I don't have to

practise as much,

do good at Worlds,

and that was not true.

I was not prepared.

I think when I get home,

life will resume as normal

and then I will look back

on that and say,

"That was

a really weird summer",

and then continue to live.

When I hear someone say

they hate Excel,

I just think to myself,

you know you could make

your life a whole lot easier

if you didn't hate Excel.

I don't know, it's kind of like

when someone hates ice cream.

Like, but your life would

be easier if you loved it.

Yes, I like him still.

You don't love me anymore?

Oh, I love you. We're good.

-I love you too.

-Yeah.

Some of the students

that I have seen

over the course of my

dozen years doing this

did not win,

and they have gone on

to do remarkable things.

They are teachers.

They are business professionals.

They make more money than I do.

They will succeed.

If they were driven enough

to get to this point,

they will be driven enough

to move forward in the future.

Of that, I have no doubt.

I'm always inspired

by these kids,

and I believe that

these are the kids

that are going to

change the world.

[Bing] It's incredibly

fulfilling

to witness how education

improves the lives

of future generations.

The tech sector

run the world now,

so we need champions

like these young people

promoted and represented.

It's also going to be motivating

the new generation

to sh**t for more

'cause they can do it.

The way I view it is, look,

there was this average student,

and I was an average student,

who was sitting right,

right there,

you know, in this classroom

who changed the world.

You could do that too.

They give me hope

that the world is in good hands.

[choral music]

Mason Braithwaite from the USA.

[applause and cheering]

Braydon Tanti from Australia.

[applause and cheering]

Melong Njoumangen Yvan

De La Paix from Cameroon.

[applause and cheering]

Alkmini Gaitan from Greece.

[applause and cheering]

Trung Nam Pham from Vietnam!

[applause and cheering]

Carmina Solares. Guatemala.

[applause and cheering]

[choral music continues]

A lot of questions.

A lot of lot of self-inspection.

It's like the health department.

Except instead of

checking the food,

you're checking yourself.

A very strange new experience

for me, 100%.

[laughs]

Who's your favourite

One Direction member?

Oh, I'm such a Niall girl,

I love Niall Horan.

How would you feel

if Niall Horan

watched this documentary?

I would, I would, I don't know,

I would be in the sky.

I would be...

I would be over the moon if he

saw this and he remembered me.

Hi, Niall. [chuckles]