It's fifteen minutes into the first Quiz Bowl meeting of the semester and I am already offered Costco truffles and a science fiction book. I accept the truffle, but graciously decline the reading material in hopes of not seeming too gluttonous. Quiz Bowl is a trivia competition in which colleges across the nation participate. Our own Brandeis team has ranked high in the past and is gearing up for a competition. The game has taken them around the country to places like Los Angeles, Chatanooga, and Philadelphia. In 2003, the team placed eighth at the Division II National Academic Quiz Tournament. Last year they came in seventh in the Division I undergraduate category.

Members of the team say being a part of Quiz Bowl is more than just winning tournaments.

"In high school, I took pride in being smarter than other people," Beck Holden '08 said, a citing reason for joining the Quiz Bowl team. "Here, I am not smarter, but still enjoy the competition. It's my equivalent of an adrenaline rush."

While waiting for more members to show up, the conversation flows from Costco truffles and DVDs to science fiction and Tom Greene. The meeting takes place in Dan Passner '06's suite. The bare white walls provide no distractions, and the only objects on the round table in the center of the living room are an opened bag of truffles, a book, laptop and a bobblehead toy I learn was won this year at a competition. I sit around the table with three other players, while two other contestants sat on a couch against the wall.

After I am explained the rules and jargon of the game, I am already dizzy with confusion. When the questions start up, I fear the worst. Words and phrases like negs, glorious negs, power bonuses and tetrabytes fly through the air. And that's before the questions even start.

Between rounds, I am taught what these alien words mean. A "neg" is when you buzz in early with the wrong answer, which will cost you five points. A "glorious neg" is when you are horribly off base-"like saying Jesus instead of Abraham Lincoln," Evan Nagler '08 explains.

A power bonus is when you answer the question quickly, and to be honest, I still don't know what a tetrabyte is. I'm pretty sure it had nothing to do with the game.

I also learn that "trash" refers to pop culture questions, and that Richard Rubin '05 from Beauty and the Geek fame is a Quiz Bowl alum.

A set of clues is read. Three people slap their knees (as a substitute buzzer) at the same time to answer. While the players answer question after question correctly with words and phrases I'm not even aware exist, I'm still getting used to the usage of the term "neg."

Another practice round begins. One of the clues given is a "day in the life of an Irish Jew."

"My Name is Asher Lev?" someone tries with a chuckle.

Ulysses! Ulysses! I yell in my head, too scared to say it out loud.

"Ulysses," the question asker groans.

"I knew that one!" I think to myself.

When the person at the laptop reads off the clues for a certain question, you feeling like a runner in a marathon. The longer the set of clues goes on for, the more intense it gets.

Two truffles and several furrowed brows later, I finally slap my knee confidently.

"David Bowie!" I shout a little too loudly, looking around for approval from the five members. Nagler, the current clue reader, nods.

"Very good," a voice from behind says. I feel like a million bucks. When I come down from my triumphant high, a question referring to Justice Louis Brandeis is being read. Sadly, nobody seems as thrilled as I am by the coincidence.

Soon I slap in again. "The Strokes!" I answer proudly, earning me another "Very nice," plus a round of nods. First I think, "Wow, I could totally do this." Then I think, "Wow, I'm so 'trashy.'" Why don't I know any of the questions about African bodies of water, or Danish statisticians?

The practice comes to an end two hours later.

Eventually the post-practice conversation turns to eating contests, and the scandalous measures players take to achieve victory, such as stomach enlarging surgery.

"Well you can't exactly take steroids to get better in competitive eating," Nagler said.

They must notice the amused look on my face, because eventually I'm told that "practices can sometimes degenerate into conversations about completely different things."

The meeting's format suites me fine. The casualness of the meeting, combined with the intense sharing and showing of knowledge, makes for a pleasurable club gathering. Despite the fact that most of the questions flew miles above my head, I did answer two correctly, even if they were so "trashy" that they should have gone out with the garbage last week.