How did you first learn of, start doing, and keep doing SciOly?

[lumosityfan]

Hi everyone,

I was just thinking this morning about a very interesting question for all of you folks out there that I was curious of hearing about. How did you first learn of Science Olympiad, why did you start doing it in the first place, and why do you keep doing it despite all the challenges that may come in your way?

I'll start out with my own story about this topic. It was actually an accident sort-of that I started doing Science Olympiad. In retrospect, the event that got me doing it may never have happened. Flashback to October 2011, when my school hosted this JP Day, basically a fundraiser for our school with lots of fun events. Our marching band had a competition at MetLife Stadium the same evening, but fortunately (especially when considering this couldn't happen the previous year nor the next year) the drum majors allowed us to have the time to go to the event from 12 - 4 PM. I walk in, see what's going on. I see "Science Jeopardy!". Me, being obsessed with Roger Craig's win on the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions earlier that year, wanted to see what was going on. Also, I loved science, although at that time I think I was still interested more in history and politics. I walk in and see the captains, some student volunteers, and the coach at the time. I get very excited, although not necessarily because of Science Olympiad (keep in mind I had never heard of SciOly at this point); I wanted to play the game! I sit down, and the people helping out set me up with the buzzer and tell me to pick a category. Over the course of the afternoon, I enjoy myself annoying one of the captains with my choice of Astronomy and doing pretty well. I got to know the captains a little more and the coach a little more (I had never heard of her before). Overall, I was very happy enjoying myself over there and had a great time. Little did I know that the captain that was annoyed called me the next day and said first of all, good job yesterday, you were amazing! I of course said thank you He then asked whether I was doing many clubs at the time. I said not really; I said marching band but that ends in November and I said I was considering the Academic Team (which doesn't take up too much time) and FBLA although those were just considerations: I was definitely free to consider other options. He then offered me a chance if I wanted to to join the team automatically and start competing. I said sure maybe; I'd have to see what was going on first (after all, I had never heard of Science Olympiad). He was alright with that and sent me an e-mail detailing what SciOly was about. I looked through it and I thought it was very very interesting! Me, wanting to try this very intriguing competition out, said sure, let's go! Little did I know that that innocent phone call would become one of my greatest obsessions of my high school career and even now somewhat in college; also, it would help shape my entire future and what I wanted to do in life; amazing!

I keep on doing Science Olympiad in some way, shape or form because I love the camaraderie that everyone has. In other competitions, cutthroat competition occurs and it can get pretty intense to the point of sometimes boiling over. Fortunately, that doesn't really happen in Science Olympiad, and even when we have to compete against each other, it's in the name of science, curiosity, and simply wanting to win. We have massive respect for each other and don't want to diss the other side, which is so refreshing to here. Also, as I mentioned earlier, the want to satisfy our curiosity. There's a lot of things that we still don't know as high school and college students, and I've learned that through my 4 years of competing in SciOly. In addition, you get the variety of events that is so nice to see. Even though I compete mainly in Astronomy, I still got a taste of the other sides of science though Entomology, Forestry, It's About Time, and others. It really opens your horizons about what's possible out there and gives you a greater perspective in life and your career. Finally, I love the fact that there's not just one type of event. There's build, lab, and study events. It gives a variety that honestly not too many competitions out there have. Most of the competitions are either just study events (USAMO, USAPO, USABO, other International Olympiads), lab (Siemens, other lab competitions that I can't remember right now), or build (Odyssey of the Mind, other build competitions that I can't remember right now). Yet Science Olympiad fuses all three types very seamlessly and in a way that really edifies us in a way that I think no other competition can.

What about you? What are your thoughts on this topic?

[Panda Weasley]

That sounds like an awesome way to get started with SO! My school doesn't have anything like that. Really the only way to learn about clubs is if you know someone in the club.

How I learned/started doing SO:
My story is a lot less exciting than yours. My middle school was really small, so the Sci Oly team was really the only real club. We had some other after school clubs/activities but they weren't as big or involved. It was interesting because Sci Oly was also what the "cool kids" did (which shows you how nerdy we were). I knew in elementary school that I wanted to be in Sci Oly because all of the older students I knew and looked up to were on the team and I loved science (fun fact: I did Odyssey of the Mind in 3rd grade because my dad told me it was the elementary school version of SO. It's not).

I joined the team the second our coaches visited the 6th grade classrooms with the interest sheet and competed until this year. Sadly for various reasons my high school (and middle school so there goes the idea of coaching) doesn't have a team anymore, so I'm no longer a competitor. I'm planning on trying to re-start the team next year, though. To stay involved with SO this year I'm volunteering at the regional tournament. We're not sure exactly what we're doing yet, but it sounds like Fluffy and I will probably run an event!

I enjoy competing in SO because of the way it's run. It encourages honest competition and sportsmanship and is easy to become a part of. I also love (like lumos said) that there is a diversity in topics and event styles. Some of the areas of science I am interested in pursuing as a career I would probably never have gotten excited about if I wasn't placed in that event. Now I can't even chose what I like best! I hope to always stay involved in SO in someway, whether by competing, coaching, or volunteering at a tournament.

[Schrodingerscat]

I was one of the founding members of my grade school's team my 8th grade year. I don't know the exact story, as I believe the coach (the 7-8 science teacher) had had interest in the past, but didn't want to start it by herself. However, a family from the parish (parochial school) got involved in SO at my high school, and a brother and sister made it their annual service project to help run the team. If I recall correctly, their mother also became the assistant coach.

So one day the teacher mentioned in science class that she wanted to start a team and was having an interest meeting for students and parents in the evening (probably later that week, but can't remember). I don't recall that she described it much in class, mostly just saying that it was something different and encouraged us to give it a try. I was apprehensive at first, as although I was definitely interested in science, the only other activity I had ever done was mandatory science fair in 7th grade, which I did not enjoy. However, I was willing to attend the meeting, and there I was sold by the more thorough presentation of it.

Once I got started, I never questioned wanting to stop. The closest I came was when I chose between two local catholic high schools: the other one had been attended by a majority of my family, but didn't have a team then (and only sometimes fielded a weak team while I was competing). However, the SO program was one of the main reasons I chose my high school. Throughout high school, it was at many times the only thing I enjoyed.

[Alex-RCHS]

I first learned about Science Olympiad in 7th grade.

When signing up for electives, I took a course called "Olympics of Science and Math." I liked science; I liked math. It seemed like a good idea. I found out later that "Olympics of Science and Math" was actually a misnomer for Science Olympiad. Having a Science Olympiad class would normally be a huge advantage, but we were a brand new school with only 100 middle school students and a very disorganized team. To top it off, I was quite lazy as a middle schooler and I didn't know how to study properly. I didn't win any medals at regionals, and our team ranked close to last.

But failures aside, we had a lot of fun. And we medaled in one event, which sent our small cheering section into a frenzy.

I enjoyed that class and that tournament so much that I nearly got invested in Science Olympiad right then and there. But I didn't like my events very much, and some of my friends quit the team during their 8th grade year. As a result, I did too.

The high school that I went to had a really good SciOly team; one of the best in the state. I discovered this sometime between getting accepted into that school and the school's club fair. Joining SciOly was an obvious choice for me because the prospect of competing with a talented, organized team was incredibly exciting. Plus, I had built up a better work ethic between 7th grade and my freshman year. I felt much more prepared.

I got on the Junior Varsity team, and received pretty mediocre scores at regionals even though I enjoyed my events more and worked harder than in 7th grade. My scores were high enough to keep me from giving up, but low enough to get me to want to work harder next time.

I made the Varsity team the following year (my sophomore year). I was very proud of making the team, and was thrilled when I won a couple of medals at states. I stepped one foot into the gaping, time-consuming, wonderful hole that is Science Olympiad at that year's regional tournament, but it wasn't until our school won 2nd in the state and a spot at the national tournament that I really jumped in head-first.

My experiences at states and nationals my sophomore year were some of the best of my entire life; experiences that I wouldn't trade for anything. I don't display my few medals, but my wristbands from all the tournaments I've been to have been saved and proudly pinned onto a bulletin board in my room.

I'm a junior now. My personal goal last year was "don't fail." This year I'm going to head into regionals, states and (hopefully) nationals with guns-blazing, out to get as many medals as I can and have as much fun as possible.

Science Olympiad has changed my life. It is the source of my proudest accomplishments, my fondest memories, and some of my closest friends. It will continue to shape me as a person for years to come.

[Fanglin]

Way back in 6th grade, I joined through the pressure of some of my older 7th and 8th grade friends. That first year, I sort of "Ghosted", and only partially participated in Helicopters. I attended one invitational just to experience the drama, and I got hooked with the fact that Science Olympiad was such an independent organization, and that at competitions, kids roamed around competing, watching, and getting pizza and stuff at their own will. I also liked the fact that the kids who weren't competing sat around playing games, and watching movies, although I grew to overcome this. The first time I competed was at Regionals, where I finally got to fly my helicopters to get a score. I did pretty badly, but I finally could believe that I was part of it now, and I wasn't just a bystander anymore. 6th grade was pretty chill for me. The next year, I thought, I can do this! I want to win! so I signed up for 5 events, and worked my butt off for most of them. Three of those were building events which I got a lot of help from my Dad, and other students, but my only good study event was Road Scholar, which I instantly connected with, and quickly became the best student. I competed actively in all 5 events at Invitationals and Regionals, and found out that with 5 events, you don't have any time to sit around and watch movies, but instead, you compete, and watch people compete all the time.

By the time States rolled around that year, I somehow made the States team because of how many events I did, and how surprisingly good I was at them. I worked my hardest during that month before States, and walked into the competition very nervous. It's States right! and I was still the "rookie" of my team. I had never been at the state level for anything before, so this was big for me. My results even supprised me. I got 1st in Road Scholar out of the whole state, which made me believe that I was good at science olympiad, and I wasn't the "rookie" anymore. Although this was Important for me, I found that the best part of Science Olympiad, was the community. My 15 person team, although at different levels of society, became really good friends, and helped each other compete and stuff. I found the community to be the best part of SciOly.

At nationals, I was Overwhelmed by all the different people from different states, and I was a shy kid back then. So I spend most of my nationals time practicing and studying for the tests, which I now wish I shouldn't have done. I did worse than I thought I would do, because I Finally met my match. Although this bothered me, I knew that I almost certainly could do the same next year, and I would Improve to be the best I could.

8th Grade, I felt confident. I went in with knowledge of 4 events, and I signed up for two extras, for a grand total of 6. I thought this year would be more practice at the events I was already good at, but That wasn't the case. For one event, Air Trajectory, this 7th grader turned out to be much better than me, and he went on to lead that event. This meant that I was only the best at 3 events. My two other events that I was new to, were Meteorology, and Crime Busters. I did CB because everyone raved about how fun it was, and It was fun, but I wasn't the best. Meteorology though, I had a chance. I put all my effort into this event, and knew that It was the only event I Needed to do well in. I eventually became the 2nd best, which was enough to get me on the state team paired with the 1st best kid (who was a Meteorology god). At states, I got 1st at the two events I didn't think I would do well in, but got 2nd in the two events I thought I did well in, so it was a bit bittersweet for me.
I figured that I had no chance at nationals for gliders, and that my other three good events were the only things I could do well in. I was naturally good at Road Scholar, so I didn't have to work hard for that one. Meteorology was good, because I just studied and such, but during those last few months, my focus was on Bottle Rockets. My partner and I went full whack on the design process, and produced a good pair of rockets, that were nationals level.
Nationals this year were in my home state, so they were pretty chill for me and the rest of my team. We walked in with our cheese heads, and showed off the gods that we were. At competition, I felt that I was at home, and bothered to go outside of my comfert zone and make some friends from different states. I made some friends from Washington through Boeing merch, and mini cheeseheads, and I made some friends from Solon MS, which was cool. Competition was awesome, and I finally felt at home with my skill level. Not too hard, not too easy. For the Road Scholar Event, we had the answer to the Last Question (which was a tie breaker) and were about to write it down, when time ran out. Both my partner and I were crazy tempted to cheat, but we kept our neutrality and ended up leaving it black. Boy we felt bad. My results were great though. At the awards ceremony, I was nervous as pigeon, and was convinced that I screwed up on the test in some way. When they announced my star event, I was all "its over, I'm done" sort of thing. 6th place goes by... 5th place goes by, and I know that there's no chance to place because of our missed tiebreaker. We goth 4th though, meaning that we must have gotten all the questions right, except for the one we missed! I was thrilled as pigeon, and went on my little victory wank after the ceremony.
After my middle school years, I realized that I had left my imprint on my schools SciOly, and that you keep the sense of community, although I live in a different state now, and compete for a different team.
I believe the reason I enjoyed SciOly so much, was how fun it was, and how cool it was to win. Now that I live in a new state, I don't enjoy it as much, because it's run like school in my new state. It's taken so seriously, to the point where most of the fun of participating is gone, and all the focus is on winning. There's no emphasis on student bonding or building community anymore. I don't enjoy it anymore because of this reason, and I hope that other members realize this.

[smrt1337]

I feel like I'm the only one who actually did SO in div A Anyways, I started in 4th grade, and I liked it so I did it in 5th grade too. However, 6th grade was what really got me going. I worked my butt off and actually made the State team. I'll never forget the memories I made at state and nats that year, although at times I felt like smashing all my mechanicals and deleting my cheat sheet. From then on, I was addicted.

[rgandhi2002]

My earliest memories of Science Olympiad are little 7 year old me having to go to school early for my brother to work on his events. I was blessed to have a (surprisingly good) division B Science Olympiad program at my elementary school (Torrey Hills ES) which I was pressured into joining by my family, which even though I resisted at first (I was a stubborn 4th grader) I soon grew to love. After doing well at regionals and making it the state team, I was officially hooked, even if I didn't know it at the time. The next year, in 5th grade, I doubled my events (from 2 the previos year to 4) and I ended up going to State again. In 6th grade, I switched events a lot, starting with 4, adding 2, and eventually doing 5 at regionals and state. Unfortunately, my elementary school wasn't able to make it to state by a few points but I found my true love, neurology. The next year, I joimed Carmel Valley Middle School, where I met some of the best SciOlyers I know. Though I didn't do as well as I hoped, I learnt a lot and fostered a weird liking for physics which was something I would have never thought of as one of my interests. Somehow, compared to other CVMS teams, I did well in my events and was very close to making the state team but didn't :'(. Eighth grade was my biggest blunder as I let external factors get the better of me and ended up doing worse then I ever did but in the end, it was still a great experience. Now as a freshman, I decided to coach the event that changed me at the school I owe everything to, Anatomy at my elementary school. Though the school didnt make it to state this year by one place, the team I coached beat quite a few big schools. Science Olympiad has been a part of me longer than I can even remember and I owe everything to the people that pushed me into it.

[Skink]

I like how different everyone's tales are. Everyone's SO experiences really are individual and personal...and it's not just because of event selection, seems!

[CVMSAvalacheStudent]

Once upon a time, there was a fifth grader who wanted to do something in his life. Then, he found Science Olympiad and signed up.

I'm kidding, I did it because my parents made me.

[EastStroudsburg13]

There were really no other science-related clubs at the time I started 6th grade, so this was my only option. I wasn't super serious my first year, but I gradually got more and more involved and eventually ended up here. I've posted my story of my experience in another thread like this, so if you're super curious, you can look for it.