Awesomely Run Event Stories

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The Fossils test was just great at Rustin because [insert thesis statement here].

[SenseiSushi]

The Crime Busters test at Rustin was the bomb, it was incredibly well written. The ES was super prepared, for literally every question someone asked, his answer was read the directions.

[appleshake123]

Pentathalon at Rustin was great. It was amusing to watch the people complete the tasks, but further more, the proctors were great at explaining the rules and what to do.

[samlan16]

Don't believe I posted about BISOT 2016, but it ran by far the hardest and best Forensics test I ever had. To give you an idea, we got 3rd with a score of 180 out of ~600.

The proctor was a GT undergrad who probably did not have the time to put forth the effort needed to pull off this exam. Nevertheless, it covered EVERYTHING: powders, hair, plastics, fibers, blood, ento, DNA, and even bullets with real striations! For chromatography, she included both a TLC and paper chromatography test. Usually, I am not challenged by Forensics at tournaments. This time, however, I was stretched so much during that 50 minutes to the point that I told my partner to have fun with the powders while I finished the rest of the test.

As a competitor, I LOVE being challenged because it becomes easier for the hardworking, passionate competitors to be stratified from those whose moms forced them to be there or whatever. Those within the hardworking stratum end up having to push themselves for a medal, so winning actually means something. More proctors need to be like this one!

[Skink]

samlan, I hope you had your coach contact the tournament director (or did so yourself) with a thank-you to that particular ES, then, as I'm sure it'd be very appreciated.

[samlan16]

samlan, I hope you had your coach contact the tournament director (or did so yourself) with a thank-you to that particular ES, then, as I'm sure it'd be very appreciated.

I personally thanked her at awards- she gave my partner and I our medals.

[Panda Weasley]

The Fossils test at Regionals this year was very easy. I initially planned to post about it in Poorly Run Event Stories since it was insanely easy, but I realized that I actually really liked the way it was set up. The event leader set up several stations with fossils that we had to identify and they were all listed on the back (along with several others to trip you up). One of the few things I didn't like about Entomology was that with IDing it was sometimes hard to figure out which answer they wanted. Having them listed on the back was very helpful, even if it did make it really easy. We could also move amongst the stations at our own pace which my partner and I both really liked as it removed a lot of the stress. He also had a variety of samples ranging from actual fossils to stuffed animals. He didn't mind us picking them up and playing with them which led to my partner attacking me with dinosaur toys and making me kiss a stuffed animal crustacean. It was fun which is something I think is lost sometimes at competitions. Sure the test should be hard, but, at the end of the day, you are doing Science Olympiad for fun so it should be fun.

[JoJoKeKe]

There is no Idaho state regional competition, so the only competition I ever get to attend is the state tournament once a year (and Nationals last year). Being said, there are also sadly not very good tests at the Idaho State Competitions- as my 6th grade year the Anatomy test was 20 questions long.

However, last year the fossils test was run amazingly, with every station having real specimens. I got to see everything from Mucrospirifer to Orthoceras. It was a blast! There were typically 3-4 questions accompanying each fossil, and while you were on a strict time schedule, you had 3 minutes per station, so I didn't feel like it was a competition to see who could go the fastest.

It was just an event that was ran so well!

[GoofyFoofer]

I absolutely loved the fossil test at Regionals! 2 minutes per station, 20 stations. Somewhat easy, but it had everything from trilobites ( ) to Lagerstattes to Gymnosperms. It was a fun and fast-paced test, well written.

[JasperKota]

I like the stations for like invasives or fossils, if you prepared well it kind of feels more like a scavenger hunt through your binder rather then a nerve racking competition.