Re: New York 2014
Posted: March 10th, 2014, 11:00 pm
Since people started talking about it, I guess I'll add in my two cents
First off, in case there was any ambiguity, I'm also from Ward Melville. I've been in science olympiad for around four and a half years, starting in seventh grade. Science olympiad means more to me than I could ever dream of articulating, and anything I say really can't do it justice. But I'll try.
The spirit of science olympiad has shaped my experiences for the past four years. Although it's a competition, we were always taught by our coaches to help other teams--to loan them goggles when needed, to point them in the right direction,to lend a hand when theirs were full. We were always taught to exercise good sportsmanship and compete with integrity. To us, science olympiad was about advancing our knowledge in areas of science that we normally wouldn't be exposed to. To us, the purpose of scio was to apply and demonstrate our newly learned skills at the different tournaments that we worked hard to reach. So when we were uninvited to states on the basis of late paperwork, we were not only devastated because we couldn't compete, but also because the decision goes against the spirit of scio-- something that we held in very high esteem. At first, we couldn't believe it was true-- that we would actually be denied our right to compete at states because of administrivia. After all, if scio was about learning and honest competition, it wouldn't make sense to prohibit a team from competing because their paperwork was sent two days late. As the week passed, it became clear that this was actually a legitimate problem, despite how ridiculous it sounded to us. As such, we were quickly informed about the situation. In black and white, the basis of our disqualification is valid. There was a deadline, we did not meet it. But it's silly to deal with a complicated issue in such a simple manner. Between the snow, the auditor's sickness, and the variety of other reasons, I find it deeply unsettling that this issue can be written off so easily. Regardless of all this, I also find it difficult to believe that there can be any justification for punishing a group of students for something completely beyond their control. We did not know about the threat of disqualification until it was too late, and therefore couldn't have done anything to prevent it. The purpose of our disqualification is "fairness" to the other teams. This, as mentioned earlier, has happened in the past, and so it would be unfair to handle the matter in a dissimilar fashion. It is clear to almost everyone that the deadline for the paperwork is completely arbitrary and should not exist as basis for disqualification. While science olympiad is a competition that should be fair to all teams and deal with all teams in the same manner, to consistently implement an unfair policy is disadvantageous to all teams. I am sure the teams who had been disqualified for the same reasons in the past would agree that this policy needs to be eliminated. This makes me wonder which of the affected parties in these incidents (if any) are in favor of implementing such a strict policy to begin with.
Our team right now is absolutely miserable because of this decision. We are devastated that an injustice like this can exist in the organization that has been our home for the past few years. The seniors on our team will not have the chance to have a proper "last tournament," since they did not anticipate this incident, and that alone is heart breaking enough. It may be easy enough for them to do this to a faceless group of students, but I hope they realize that we are more than just a check and signatures on a paper. While I owe to scio the introduction of my closest friends, I also owe to it the regret of not knowing them better.
First off, in case there was any ambiguity, I'm also from Ward Melville. I've been in science olympiad for around four and a half years, starting in seventh grade. Science olympiad means more to me than I could ever dream of articulating, and anything I say really can't do it justice. But I'll try.
The spirit of science olympiad has shaped my experiences for the past four years. Although it's a competition, we were always taught by our coaches to help other teams--to loan them goggles when needed, to point them in the right direction,to lend a hand when theirs were full. We were always taught to exercise good sportsmanship and compete with integrity. To us, science olympiad was about advancing our knowledge in areas of science that we normally wouldn't be exposed to. To us, the purpose of scio was to apply and demonstrate our newly learned skills at the different tournaments that we worked hard to reach. So when we were uninvited to states on the basis of late paperwork, we were not only devastated because we couldn't compete, but also because the decision goes against the spirit of scio-- something that we held in very high esteem. At first, we couldn't believe it was true-- that we would actually be denied our right to compete at states because of administrivia. After all, if scio was about learning and honest competition, it wouldn't make sense to prohibit a team from competing because their paperwork was sent two days late. As the week passed, it became clear that this was actually a legitimate problem, despite how ridiculous it sounded to us. As such, we were quickly informed about the situation. In black and white, the basis of our disqualification is valid. There was a deadline, we did not meet it. But it's silly to deal with a complicated issue in such a simple manner. Between the snow, the auditor's sickness, and the variety of other reasons, I find it deeply unsettling that this issue can be written off so easily. Regardless of all this, I also find it difficult to believe that there can be any justification for punishing a group of students for something completely beyond their control. We did not know about the threat of disqualification until it was too late, and therefore couldn't have done anything to prevent it. The purpose of our disqualification is "fairness" to the other teams. This, as mentioned earlier, has happened in the past, and so it would be unfair to handle the matter in a dissimilar fashion. It is clear to almost everyone that the deadline for the paperwork is completely arbitrary and should not exist as basis for disqualification. While science olympiad is a competition that should be fair to all teams and deal with all teams in the same manner, to consistently implement an unfair policy is disadvantageous to all teams. I am sure the teams who had been disqualified for the same reasons in the past would agree that this policy needs to be eliminated. This makes me wonder which of the affected parties in these incidents (if any) are in favor of implementing such a strict policy to begin with.
Our team right now is absolutely miserable because of this decision. We are devastated that an injustice like this can exist in the organization that has been our home for the past few years. The seniors on our team will not have the chance to have a proper "last tournament," since they did not anticipate this incident, and that alone is heart breaking enough. It may be easy enough for them to do this to a faceless group of students, but I hope they realize that we are more than just a check and signatures on a paper. While I owe to scio the introduction of my closest friends, I also owe to it the regret of not knowing them better.