User:RZ2004
| TX | Rooni competed in Texas. |
| CM | Rooni is a Chat Moderator. |
| RZ2004 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General Information | |
| Years in SO | 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026 |
| Current Team | TAMU Science Olympiad |
| Past Team(s) | Clements High School ('23) |
| State | Texas |
| Division | D |
| Scioly.org Information | |
| Forum profile | RZ2004 |
| Staff Position | Chat Moderator |
| Medals | |
| Total medals | 17
|
| Competitor Info | |
| Competitions attended | 17 |
| Events competed in | 18 |
| Volunteering | |
| Years volunteered | 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026 |
| Number of tests written | 42 |
| Social Media | |
| Discord | roonisaurus |
Howdy! I'm RZ2004 but most people on Scioly.org know me as Rooni. I competed in the 2021, 2022, and 2023 seasons as a member of Clements High School. Now I am part of the Texas A&M Science Olympiad Society where I volunteer and write tests.
Competition Summary:
2020-2021 Season (Sophomore Year)
Honestly I did not know what I was doing, as it was my first year competing and competitions were held online. This was mostly a year of me trying different events to see which ones I liked. Ornithology was by far my favorite event.
| Event | BEARSO | UT | Cypress Falls | Seven Lakes | MIT | YUSO | Regionals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Astronomy | 90th | - | 5th | 10th | - | 16th | 8th |
| Codebusters | - | - | 23rd | - | - | - | - |
| Cybersecurity | - | - | - | - | - | 24th | - |
| Experimental Design | 106th | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Fermi Questions | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4th |
| Fossils | - | 39th | - | - | - | - | - |
| Ornithology | 42nd | 10th | - | 8th | 61st | 16th | 7th |
| Sounds of Music | - | - | - | 11th | - | - | - |
| We've Got Your Number | - | 47th | 13th | - | - | - | - |
2021-2022 Season (Junior Year)
The year Clements made Nats for the first time in five years! Super exciting, though it was a shame nationals was held online. Ornithology continued to be my favorite event, but I loved Astronomy, Ping Pong Parachute, and Wright Stuff as well. POWA forever!
| Event | Cypress Falls | Seven Lakes | MIT | Regionals | State | Nationals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Astronomy | - | 11th | 32nd | 4th | 6th | 29th |
| Experimental Design | - | - | - | 7th | - | - |
| Ornithology | 4th | 3rd | 26th | 4th | 2nd | 23rd |
| Ping Pong Parachute | - | - | - | - | 4th | 3rd |
| We've Got Your Number | 15th | - | - | - | - | - |
| Wright Stuff | 12th | 13th | 24th | - | - | - |
| Write It Do It | 6th | 5th | - | - | - | - |
2022-2023 Season (Senior Year)
I became a captain this year. First time getting first place in anything, which was super cool. I was really sad about Ornithology rotating out, but then Forestry grew on me and I ended up really loving it. It kind of sucked that Astronomy and Forestry conflicted, but oh well. I unfortunately did not make the States/Nationals team but the season was still really fun (and I still got to go on the Nats trip as an alternate)! We don't talk about the CyFalls Bridge or what happened at BirdSO... Overall, very nice way to end off my three years of competing.
| Event | UT | Cypress Falls | BirdSO Satellite | Regionals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Astronomy | - | - | - | 2nd |
| Botany | 3rd | - | - | - |
| Bridge | - | 32nd | - | - |
| Detector Building | - | 1st | 59th | - |
| Experimental Design | 10th | - | - | - |
| Flight | - | 1st | 29th | - |
| Forestry | 1st | 3rd | 5th | 1st |
| Ornithology | - | - | 1st | - |
| Rocks and Minerals | - | - | 53rd | 3rd |
| We've Got Your Number | - | - | - | 1st |
Volunteering/Testwriting:
2022-2023 Season (Senior Year High School)
I got asked to write the SSSS Forestry test which got me into the event; previously I was unsure if I wanted to compete in it, but after getting to do my own research and write my own test I fell in love with the event. After competing in a few tournaments and placing every time, I also signed up to write a station on the Community Forestry Test which was organised by Scispork. Ultimately these two tests kickstarted my testwriting journey :)
2023-2024 Season (First Year College)
After I graduated, I decided I wanted to continue helping out with Science Olympiad. I got the privilege to formally ES for the first time this season (not just through writing a test but also running the event at a tournament) and I got to learn much more about what goes on behind the scenes at tournaments. I mainly wrote Forestry tests but also got to work on Ornithology as well as a variety of other events, and I played other roles besides just testwriting through reviewing tests/build setups, proctoring, and grading. My favourite tests this season were GullSO Ornithology, UMASO Forestry, and Texas States Forestry. I did kind of overwork myself by signing up to write for that many competitions, but in the end it paid off and I was proud of *most* tests I wrote this season. Also I never want to touch builds again... Air Trajectory B at States was really something I do not want to relive. Volunteering at Nats was really fun and gave me a break from the testwriting part, and I'm grateful I still got the chance to help out.
2024-2025 Season (Second Year College)
Another season, another ID rotation! How quickly things come and go. Well, goodbye Forestry and hello Entomology! I told myself to cut down on testwriting this season (especially since my coursework in college was ramping up) but still couldn't resist the urge to ES for my favourite tournaments. This season I discovered my love for insects after previously being really scared of them (but now I love them so much!), and I got to codirect SealSO (a one-time tournament dedicated to raising awareness about marine mammal conservation) with endecophagy too. Although he did most of the work, I helped out with two of the trials (Ornithology and Pinnip-ID, an ID event based on pinnipeds) and designed stickers for the wonderful event supervisors who SealSO would not have been possible without. In terms of in-person tournaments, I met many new friends this year at UT Invitational, MIT Invitational, UT Regionals, Texas States, and Nationals. It was great getting to travel to other campuses and ES there (though Texas States is domestic), and something I looked forward to every tournament. I also played a larger role at the Texas A&M Invitational as well as Texas States this year: getting to hand out medals/trophies, introducing myself as the social media manager, selling merchandise in the forms of shirts and stickers (which were very successful!), and choosing the pre-awards music at states. Even though my high school did not make it this year, I was determined to go to Nationals anyway to volunteer (since a: it's my hometown, b: it's within reasonable road trip driving distance, c: I wanted to meet my friends, d: I love Science Olympiad!). I got to work with Entomology B and I had a lot of fun seeing real professionally pinned specimens (rather than the random bugs I have in my freezer). Overall, 10/10 experience and 10/10 event. Very excited for next season for Entomology 2.0 (though I'll probably be doing a lot less writing).
2025-2026 Season (Third Year College)
We are so back with the second year or Entomology!
Volunteering Summary
Below is a summary of all the volunteering I've ever done:
| Season | Tournament | Date | Location | Event | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-2023 | Scioly Summer Study Session | Summer 2022 | Online | Forestry B/C | Writer |
| Community Forestry Test | April 2023 | Online | Forestry B/C | Co-Writer | |
| 2023-2024 | Rickards Invitational | November 4-11, 2023 | Online | Forestry B | Co-Supervisor |
| Ornithology B | Co-Supervisor | ||||
| Ornithology C | Co-Supervisor | ||||
| We've Got Your Number B/C | Co-Supervisor | ||||
| Cornell C Invitational | November 18, 2023 | Ithaca, NY* | Fossils C | Co-Writer | |
| Boyceville Satellite Invitational | November 27-December 2, 2023 | Online | Forestry C | Event Supervisor | |
| GullSO Invitational | December 9, 2023 | Castro Valley, CA* | Forestry C | Co-Writer | |
| Ornithology C | Co-Writer | ||||
| Tesla STEM Invitational | December 9, 2023 | Redmond, WA* | Forestry C | Co-Writer | |
| SOAPS Invitational | January 13, 2024 | University Park, PA* | Forestry B | Co-Writer | |
| BullSO Invitational | January 27, 2024 | Tampa, FL* | Forestry C | Co-Writer | |
| UNC Chapel Hill Invitational | January 27, 2024 | Chapel Hill, NC* | Forestry C | Test Reviewer | |
| Columbia Invitational | January 27, 2024 | New York, NY* | Forestry C | Co-Writer | |
| Texas A&M Invitational | January 27, 2024 | College Station, TX | Forestry B | Co-Supervisor | |
| GGSO Invitational | February 11, 2024 | Berkeley, CA* | Astronomy C | Test Reviewer | |
| Flight C | Test Reviewer | ||||
| Forestry C | Test Reviewer | ||||
| Tower C | Test Reviewer | ||||
| BirdSO Satellite Invitational | February 10-17, 2024 | Online | Forestry C | Event Supervisor | |
| UCR Highlander Invitational | February 17, 2024 | Riverside, CA* | Forestry C | Writer | |
| UMASO Invitational | February 17, 2024 | Amherst, MA* | Forestry C | Co-Writer | |
| OCSA Invitational | March 16, 2024 | Santa Ana, CA* | Ornithology B | Co-Writer | |
| Jordan Invitational | March 23-30, 2024 | Online | Forestry B/C | Co-Supervisor | |
| Ornithology B/C | Co-Supervisor | ||||
| Community Forestry Test | March 2024 | Online | Forestry B/C | Co-Writer | |
| Lexington Invitational | April 13-14, 2024 | Online | Materials Science B/C | Co-Supervisor | |
| Ornithology B/C | Co-Supervisor | ||||
| Swiftology B/C | Co-Supervisor | ||||
| Texas State Tournament | April 19-20, 2024 | College Station, TX | Air Trajectory B | Event Supervisor | |
| Forestry B/C | Co-Supervisor | ||||
| National Tournament | May 24-25, 2024 | East Lansing, MI | Forestry C | Co-Proctor/Co-Grader | |
| 2024-2025 | UT Invitational | October 26, 2024 | Austin, TX | Entomology B/C | Event Supervisor |
| Rickards Invitational | November 2-9, 2024 | Online | Entomology C | Co-Supervisor | |
| Fossils C | Co-Supervisor | ||||
| Mason Invitational | November 16-24, 2024 | Online | Swiftology B/C | Co-Supervisor | |
| SealSO Invitational
(Co-Tournament Director) |
December 7-14, 2024 | Online | Ornithology B/C | Co-Supervisor | |
| Pinnip-ID B/C | Co-Supervisor | ||||
| GullSO Invitational | December 14, 2024 | Castro Valley, CA* | Entomology C | Co-Writer | |
| MIT Invitational | January 25, 2025 | Cambridge, MA | Entomology C | Co-Supervisor | |
| Texas A&M Invitational
(Co-Tournament Director) |
February 15, 2025 | College Station, TX | Entomology B | Co-Supervisor | |
| Fossils B | Co-Supervisor | ||||
| UMASO Invitational | February 15, 2025 | Amherst, MA* | Entomology C | Co-Writer | |
| GGSO Invitational | February 22, 2025 | Berkeley, CA* | Entomology C | Co-Writer | |
| UT Regionals | March 1, 2025 | Austin, TX | Entomology B/C | Event Supervisor | |
| Texas State Tournament | April 11-12, 2025 | College Station, TX | Entomology B/C | Event Supervisor | |
| National Tournament | May 23-24, 2025 | Lincoln, NE | Entomology B | Co-Proctor/Co-Grader | |
| 2025-2026 | UT Invitational | October 25, 2025 | Austin, TX | Entomology B/C | Event Supervisor |
| MIT Invitational | January 24, 2026 | Cambridge, MA | Entomology C | Co-Supervisor |
Event Supervisor: Wrote, proctored, and graded the test (In the case of builds, setup/ran/scored)
Writer: Wrote the test
Proctor: Proctored the test
Grader: Graded the test
Test Reviewer: Reviewed the test draft/build setup plan
Co-<position>: Same task as <position> but with at least one other person
An asterisk (*) denotes an in-person tournament I contributed to remotely (i.e. I was not physically at the tournament)
My Events in Art!
One day in physics class in high school, I got really bored and decided to create art to represent all the events I ever did each year, starting from my sophomore year during the 2021 season. Even after my senior year, I wanted to draw the events I supervised/wrote for to represent my involvement in Science Olympiad as an alumni. Below are the works:
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
2025 |
2026 |
(I had an art style change sometime after my senior year of high school LOL)
Note: The backgrounds used in 2021 and 2022 are NOT by me and were actually official shirt designs of our club.
Other Cool Stuff to Know About Me
In no particular order:
- My favourite event of all time is Ornithology, though Entomology is a close second.
- Favourite bird: budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus)
- Favourite tree: ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba)
- Favourite insect: luna moth (Actias luna)
- Favourite reptile: green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas)
- Favourite amphibian: axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum)
- Favourite rock/mineral: amethyst
- Favourite fossil: Smilodon fatalis
- I have one pet bird, who has won the superlative for Best SciOly Pet for 2024 and 2025 Superlatives.
- I major in computer science.
- I love listening to Taylor Swift as well as a variety of K-pop. Favourite Taylor album: 1989. Favourite K-pop group: Blackpink
- If you look closely, you can see many Taylor Swift/K-pop references in the tests I've written, through specific question phrasing or station titles.
- I design all the merchandise for TAMU SciOly, including shirts and stickers.
- Texas is the best (SciOly) state RAHHH
- Boba.