User:Paleofreakazoid

=2010 (7th Grade)= 7th grade was the first year PaleoFreakazoid competed in Science Olympiad. He originally planned to try out for the team in 6th grade, but he was sick the day of tryouts. Being his first year, he really had no idea what Science Olympiad was all about, and how to study. As a result, he did not to spectacularly, although he did manage to get 3rd in Experimental Design with only one partner, and 3rd in Fossils, due to fantastic coaching. He was originally supposed to compete in Compute This, but due to event conflicts he was switched onto Experimental Design at the last minute. His poor performance in Ecology can probably be attributed to his lack of attention during practices, instead collaborating with his partner to see how many bags of popcorn could be consumed in one practice. They managed 5 bags.

This year, PaleoFreakazoid was also captain of Winston Churchill Middle School's B Team.

Table #1: 2010 Competition Results*
*Colored boxes represent events PaleoFreakazoid medaled in. Blank boxes are events that PaleoFreakazoid did not compete in.

=2011 (8th Grade)= PaleoFreakazoid was surprised, but honored, to make Winston Churchill Middle School's A Team his 8th grade year. He was originally supposed to compete in Awesome Aquifers instead of Compute This, but due to event conflicts he was unable to ever compete in Awesome Aquifers. He was switched onto Compute This because he had practiced for the event the previous year. This year was also the first year PaleoFreakazoid started coaching an event, [Fossils]. At the regional level, he got two first places, in Compute This and Experimental Design, and one second place to Arden Middle School, Churchill's rival school.

The state competition was PaleoFreakazoid's first, and only his third competition ever. For this competition, PaleoFreakazoid was reluctantly placed onto Ecology, due to having studied for the event the previous year. He placed 2nd in Ecology, interestingly losing to a former classmate who had switched to Arden, with whom he was good friends. He successfully beat Arden in Fossils, but then lost to Computech. A funny story from this competition: PaleoFreakazoid had stuffed his pocket full of sharpened pencils, and in the Experimental Design competition he reached into his pocket to grab a pencil. However, because his pocket was so full of pencils, he stabbed himself and started bleeding everywhere. The proctor said that he would have to be kicked out if he did not stop bleeding in a minute, but luckily a bandage was found to wrap his finger in. He still has the scar.

Excitingly, Churchill finally beat out its rival school at the state level, and was able to compete at Nationals in Wisconsin. At the national level, PaleoFreakazoid was able to medal in one event, Compute This, and he was extremely close to medaling in two others, Fossils and Ecology, which was extremely exciting for him, as he had been expecting to place in the 30s. However, his best memories from his first nationals involve hanging out with his team, from having "study sessions" in the exercise room of the hotel to filming "documentaries" about Madison and its wildlife (there were so many rabbits hopping around!), to playing ninja and meeting new people from other teams. Out of pure luck, PaleoFreakazoid and his Fossils partner PaleoManiac were able to get into the fossil lecture that was open to any science olympian interested in fossils. Due to the later time of the state competition, by the time they wanted to sign up on the website, the lecture was full. However, PaleoFreakazoid and PaleoManiac went to the geology museum on campus, and there met the director of the museum, who happened to know the person giving the fossil lecture and managed to squeeze the two of them in, for which the Paleos were extremely grateful and excited. The lecture was very informative, and PaleoFreakazoid and PaleoManiac spent a lot of time afterwards talking about fossils to the lecturer.

Table #2: 2011 Competition Results*
*Colored boxes represent events PaleoFreakazoid medaled in. Blank boxes are events that PaleoFreakazoid did not compete in.

=2012 (9th Grade)= 2012 was an extremely and surprisingly successful year for PaleoFreakazoid. He was shocked and very honored to be one of five freshmen to be chosen for Churchill's A Team, and was ecstatic to compete again with his friends. This was also the first year that Churchill went to invitationals. This was a new and exciting experience for everyone. Both the Camas invitational, in December, and the Muscatel invitational, in February, were extremely fun, and PaleoFreakazoid was surprised by how friendly and welcoming the teams from both areas were. PaleoFreakazoid decided to coach again this year, this time the event Rocks and Minerals.

For the Camas invitational, PaleoFreakazoid was to compete in Compute This, Rocks and Minerals, Experimental Design and Mission Possible. Mission Possible was a last minute decision, and he and his partner built the entire contraption the night before at the hotel. They had planned previously on what materials to bring, and his partner put together small parts (PaleoFreakazoid was only supposed to be a helper). For this competition, Churchill was split into three different teams; Churchill Purple, Churchill Gold, and Churchill White. PaleoFreakazoid was chosen to be a captain for Churchill Purple, which placed first at the competition.

The Muscatel invitational was also fun, and very competitive. PaleoFreakazoid did not compete in Mission Possible at this competition, because he and his (now) two partners were busy making the perfect Rube Goldberg device for their regional competition, and they did not want to afford breaking or ruining any part of the device. He was also put onto Keep the Heat, because no one else was willing to take up the position. At this point, Churchill had split into A and B teams, and PaleoFreakazoid was chosen to be a captain for the A Team, along with alpacas. PaleoFreakazoid was also chosen to wear the mascot for this season, which he wore at several competitions including Nationals.

PaleoFreakazoid did extremely well at the regional, state, and national level, medaling in every event, missing first only three times, and getting streaks in two events, [Keep the Heat] and Rocks and Minerals. PaleoFreakazoid believes this is in part due to his amazing partners. The national tournament this year was also extremely fun, and PaleoFreakazoid enjoyed going to Orlando's Universal Studios, as well as going on campus tours and hanging out with his friends on this trip.

Table #3: 2012 Competition Results*
*Colored boxes represent events PaleoFreakazoid medaled in. Blank boxes are events that PaleoFreakazoid did not compete in.

**Proctors on this test accidentally skipped a section. Had this section been given full credit, PaleoFreakazoid would have placed 1st (the 1st place team was also from Churchill Middle School, so comparisons could be made)

=2013= PaleoFreakazoid was once again surprised and honored to make the Mira Loma A Team. He is currently studying for Rocks and Minerals, Astronomy, and Technical Problem Solving, and he was just placed onto Remote Sensing for the Troy Invitational.

Table #4: 2013 Competition Results*
*Colored boxes represent events PaleoFreakazoid medaled in. Blank boxes are events that PaleoFreakazoid did not compete in.