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

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

Post by DankMemes »

Beckendorff had won nats the year before and I was interested in science, so I tried out and the rest is history...
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Re: How did you first learn of, start doing, and keep doing SciOly?

Post by BennyTheJett »

Revival Time.......

'twas 8th grade year, and I had known of Scioly in both 6th and 7th grade, but was intimidated by the tryouts, but in 8th grade they removed the tryouts! I signed up for the club, and started doing the events Rocks and Minerals, Hovercraft, and Reach For The Stars. I was absolutely terrible at the latter 2, and I soon found myself on the JV2 team. I was put into Dynamic Planet as a filler for regionals just to have a 3rd event, as I had just dropped Reach For The Stars. Little did I know that we had just started the tectonics unit, and that was exactly what was on the DP test, so I lucked into carrying to a 1st place finish in Dynamic Planet, and Soloed a 4th place in Rocks and Minerals, putting me into a test off for the final varsity spot on the state roster, which I won.

Freshman year was ok for me. I quit basketball to pursue Scioly, and found myself doing ok in Dynamic and Rocks for a freshman. I medalled only in those 2 events that year, and so I was interested in continuing to Sophomore year.

Ahh yes. Sophomore year. The year I learned about the event rotations. Goodbye Rocks and Minerals! Goodbye DP-Tectonics! In came fossils and glaciers. I really struggled at first, but a big turning point for me was Medford, where I finally found some consistency in DP and Fossils. I also dropped Anatomy and Physiology after Belleville to pursue GeoLogic (ew that capitol L) Mapping, which also worked out for me. Lastly, I took up Herpetology later on in the season, and struggled in the stupidest biology event ever for most of the year, although I did medal once, and pulled an 8 at the state tournament. I took an 8th place at Frankenmuth in Dynamic, and then medalled 3 times at regionals and 3 times at state, albeit one medal was in the trial event Aerodynamic Challenge.


It was after regionals sophomore year that I made my Scioly.org account. I'm not sure what prompted me to do it, but I did. Being in the community really boosted how much I was willing to put into Science Olympiad (huge shoutouts to the people that dealt with my bothering them with questions in the DP threads).

Junior year! I made the varsity high school team, and was competing in DP, Fossils, GLM, Water Quality (after topic change and a graduation), and Astronomy. This year went overall pretty well for me, and I was really quite excited about both my team's and my personal chances at state. I ended up medalling at every meet I went to in Dynamic Planet, with the lowest place I took being a 3rd at Boyceville. Fossils started out slow, but got a bit better, highlighted by a 2nd place finish at UW-RF and a Regionals Win. Water Quality was pretty inconsistent, but I was able to work on it between Michigan and regionals, although we never got to see the end result at state. Geologic Mapping was another event I was solid in (although definitely aided by a very good partner), and we did well to varying degrees throughout the season. Astronomy? Nightmare. I absolutely hated working on astronomy, and frankly was looking forward to getting out of the event, which I did for senior year.

Bringing me to this year, the year where I'm getting shredded by a bunch of the really goated schools from California and other states. Most unfortunate. Oh well, I'm still doing pretty good in DP (also thanks to my partner for being equally good if not better than myself), which is my favorite event.

This is my Science Olympiad story! Sorry for boring you.
Last edited by BennyTheJett on February 11th, 2021, 10:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: How did you first learn of, start doing, and keep doing SciOly?

Post by LittleMissNyan »

6th grade there was a pamphlet on my science teacher's door about it and it looked interesting, but seeing as I had just transitioned to a new school and was trying to figure out how middle school worked parents said I should try it halfway through the year after I had gotten somewhat used to things. of course that's not how SciOly works but what did I know
uhhh let's just say I dropped into a meeting or two and left it at that
Next year! I signed up at the beginning of the year (no tryouts- not enough demand). The thing that had caught my eye with the pamphlet was build events, but when we were going over the events to sign up for I saw Scratch event and went 'ooo yes I want to do that'
And then the rest of the season happened, and the season after that, and Scioly.org. The forums was actually one of the reasons I got so into SciOly, with everyone helping each other and giving tips for improvement and seeing how high you could go! I really really wanted to get to Nationals and compete with and talk to these other really good competitors!! I know it might not be likely because of how Maryland works and I don't think the high school has a whole lot of SciOly experience, but hey a tem can dream.
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Re: How did you first learn of, start doing, and keep doing SciOly?

Post by cards104171 »

My mom volunteered for the 2013 national competition, when I was like in preschool.
She thought it was pretty cool, and I have no idea how but it stuck, but when I got to middle school (6th grade), we were like all over doing Science Olympiad, so I did tryouts (and got in).
The coincidence was that 2013 was the first year my middle school team qualified for the national tournament and placed and got 6th place overall.
I went to the first team meeting where we had to pick our events, and here was my first mistake: I completely skipped over Game On at first because I thought it was something like the “Memeology” trial event, except it was on video games and stuff.
Well, our Head Coach was my orchestra teacher, and I told her I liked to code in class, and she told me about Game On last minute. I saw the word “Scratch” and “coding” and I was totally in.
In my second invitational, I placed 2nd in Game On with a warm body (no affiliation with the event, so it was the same as soloing it), so that caused me to stick with it. I continued to win another 2nd, a 3rd (w/ a warm body in Regionals), a 1st, a couple 5ths, a 4th (you get the idea) in Game On, so it sort of got me motivated, and I’m not leaving until I graduate from high school.
Last edited by cards104171 on February 16th, 2021, 11:18 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: How did you first learn of, start doing, and keep doing SciOly?

Post by RiverWalker88 »

When I was in Elementary School, a good friend of mine's mother was a science teacher--and a Science Olympiad coach. I vaguely knew about Science Olympiad from the premises that one Friday every year, they would be gone for a thing called "Science Olympiad". Well, I enter my 6th grade year and hear about joining this "Science Olympiad" thing. I'm on top of it, having heard about it before and ready to try it (I don't think the motivation was that I could miss school for it--I think it was more that it was something that a friend of mine had done, as well as it was a somewhat familiar, yet unfamiliar name).

I had no idea what I was doing the first year, to say the least. There aren't tryouts for most (or all) schools in our state, as far as I know, and definitely none for teams in town. I did a few events--all of them with a friend of mine (not the original, though, he had transferred to another school at the time). We did pretty not great. It's fine, I was just starting--I was excited to continue into future years and score better.

I had to skip 7th grade, but I was sad to.

In 8th grade, I really started ramping up my effort level (but I still wasn't great at it). At this point Science Olympiad had become an integral part of a handful of us--we were very devoted to it (and we got to do it for advisory 8-)). We had a good year this year, and I almost considered going back to compete in Division B again the next year.

But no, I did my 9th grade year at Socorro High. And that's where I am now (EDIT: I should clarify, I am a junior, I just didn't elaborate because my high school years have been bland in comparison to my MS years). I joined the forums after State last year (presumably so that I could figure out what the events for next year were going to be), and made my first post at the end of the month after (about not being excited about Game On C rotating back in--yep, that was my first post). Pseudonats happened (a not Science Olympiad competition) after the great cancellation last year, which was really what got me more active on the forums. Now that I'm integrated, I'm not unintegrated (thank you, that is the most genius thing I've said all day).

Looking back, I had no idea when I was that wee 6th grader me that I was walking into a spectacular adventure--from getting one medal in that entire year to placing several times in state, placing (in one event) in a tournament with teams from all over the country, and running our own invitational. Wow, things can escalate quickly.

So, yeah. A lot of stars aligned for me to be where I am now. Maybe I should look into Astrology--there was probably a lucky duck or something in the sky when I walked into room A2 that first time.
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Re: How did you first learn of, start doing, and keep doing SciOly?

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Edit: I felt like deleting this.
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Re: How did you first learn of, start doing, and keep doing SciOly?

Post by MorningCoffee »

So my first year of science olympiad was in 5th grade, because for some weird reason my district counts 5th grade as middle school. there were no tryouts because all the cool kids did sports and you were considered a nerd if you did scioly. BUT I DON'T FOLLOW THE CONFORMS OF SOCIETY NO SIR and decided to do it. I did just did crime and failed miserably at an invy, and did not make the regionals team. but did i give up? NEVERRRRR

6th grade rolled around I was back, doing solar system and that's it for some really weird reason :/ I became an alternate for regionals and had a blast messing around with my team without having to do a single event. The same happened for states, except i didn't go since my parents didn't want to drive me 2 hours for no reason, so that was the end of that season.

7th grade was the year i found one of my favorite events: Anatomy. I had recently discovered that biology was awesome, so i did it, along with solar system and WIDI. That year was the first year I went to regionals, only making it to anatomy because everyone wanted Solar system, and snagging a 3rd place. that year boosted my confidence and i was super excited for the next year!

8th grade was the year i beefed up on events and ornithology rotated in. at that very moment, i realized that BIRDS ARE AMAZING. I did Solar System, Dynamic Planet, Anatomy, Orni, and WIDI. I did really well in the invys, and was ready for regionals. and then covid ruined everything and i was mad >:(((((

So now I'm here in 9th grade, trying to help my div b team hopefully make it to nats this year, with the most events ever. i would totally recommend scioly, especially starting as early as possible, because thats the real deal experience. i am super excited for division c next year, and yeah, that's basically my scioly story

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

Post by smayya337 »

I first heard about SciOly as a seventh grader, I think, through some channel or another; my middle school only had (has?) two academic competitive teams (MathCounts and SciOly), so it was a bit inevitable that I'd hear of it at some point, and while I was more of a math nerd back then, I figured I might as well try out. I did not make the team. I did, however, get to be on the team as an eighth grader, and my top choice events were Fast Facts (it seemed fun!) and Wright Stuff (because planes are cool). I got both of them, as well as Thermo (which I had put down because my friend put it down too). The irony of the whole thing is that I found Fast Facts a bit boring and Wright Stuff an absolute pain, while I greatly enjoyed Thermo (I suppose the fact that I was successful in the event didn't hurt...) My account on this site dates back to eighth grade, though I didn't really use it at all for about a year.

When I got to TJ as a freshman, there were so many opportunities and clubs that I was a bit overwhelmed, so I decided to try out for TJSO since SciOly was familiar to me at the time. I found myself walking into the building on tryouts day behind an upperclassman wearing a team shirt from the 2018 national tournament, which did nothing to soothe my nerves. The exam itself was rather difficult - I remember getting in the car afterwards and telling my parents that of the 48 questions on it, I had answered eight and guessed the other forty - so I was a bit surprised when I actually made the team, especially given that TJSO applications were much more competitive than those of my middle school. I got my top two choices - Thermo and Sounds, which I had picked because music! - as well as Wright again, even though I had specifically said I would do any event except Wright. Oh well. I was a very awkward child and didn't really open up much until the Duke Invitational, our first competition of the year, at which I made friends with many of the older team members. While I wasn't earth-shattering that year, I got selected as an alternate for TJ's states team, because one of the team officers had a conflict on the day of the Cornell Invitational and they needed someone to fill in for Thermo and Sounds. That selection allowed me to go to Cornell twice with TJ, and arguably the peak of my high school career was right after the Nationals award ceremony when I managed to load Ezratech and announced to my team that we had placed 12th (absolutely shattering the VA high school record). Freshman year was also when I started actually using the forums here and there - I remember participating in some question marathons at the time - since a good number of the upperclassmen whom I happened to be friends with were on as well.

In tenth grade, I really started feeling the pressure. I had seen the "promised land" (i.e. nationals) and I wanted to go back. I got Experimental Design, Machines, and Sounds of Music, and I traded Experimental Design with a teammate for Codebusters. (I also wanted to trade Machines for Detector Building, which I had done at nats, but that didn't happen.) I was very anxious about states team results that year for that reason, and it came as a massive relief when I discovered that I had made the team. However, I only got to compete once after that (at SOUP) before the rest of the season got cancelled, which was pretty crushing.

And that brings me to this year! I'm doing Code, Detector, and Sounds (except now I'm wondering if I should have done Machines instead...) and I get to be a team officer, which is very cool. I have definitely gotten much more involved in the community over the last year or so, and I've enjoyed it a lot! The main appeal of SciOly to me is all the connections that I've been able to make over the years. If you've read this far, I'm impressed, because that paragraph about freshman year was long.
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Re: How did you first learn of, start doing, and keep doing SciOly?

Post by michelle-li »

I started in eighth grade because I'd always loved STEM, but also because the previous year, my high school's SciOly team had gone to Nationals for the first time ever, and I really looked up to that team (I might've stalked them on Instagram...ahah)

Now, one of the things I love most about SciOly that motivates me to continue is the mentorship aspect. Helping the incoming freshmen on our SciOly team learn new events, volunteering to teach middle schoolers DP through the ScioVirtual Foundation...I love being able to spark the same passion in them that SciOly sparked in me (also, the kiddos are lovely :D)
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Re: How did you first learn of, start doing, and keep doing SciOly?

Post by Giantpants »

So my brother did Science Olympiad and was in 10th grade when I was in 6th grade. He was quite good at his events, and eventually my school's coach, Brother Nigel, said to him, "Bring your brother in and get him to do Science Olympiad." which in retrospect shouldn't have worked.

So I walked into the lab that day all timid and scared since there were big scary high schoolers walking around but luckily they were all really nice to me since they all knew my brother. I said "Brother Nigel told me to speak to him" so I got directed over to Brother Nigel who told me to pick three or four events that sounded interesting and start working on them. Not really feeling like I had a choice, I picked four rules sheets (idek what they were but I remember one was Write It Do It, an event I never did even once lmao) and started reading lol. I wasn't really happy though, but I had been personally drafted into the club as a middle schooler by the high school head coach, so what choice did I have, right?

Eventually I guess my presence in the lab became known and I got put on the Brother Fox B team. Hooray. That year I did well at regionals-ish (went like 4/9) and somehow made the state team lmao where I bombed all my events. Oopsies. But I was filled with renewed determination and vigor!

In 7th grade I tried some new events, and became more active in the lab, but I still failed states. Oops. But I was sort of getting there in terms of commitment! I can recall specific instances of me studying in the lab that year, which is more than I can say for 6th grade.

In 8th grade, it all changed, however, when Brother Nigel invited me to join the high school team as a member of the B team for invitationals only. He asked my brother if my brother was okay with it, and he said yes, so me, an 8th grader who had never really been good at SO, joined the HS team for Columbia, Kenston, MIT, and Yale invitationals! It was such a fun experience, and gave me so many fun memories with my brother and my friends on the high school team, that I instantly became addicted to it.

I began to enter a new phase of my life where all I did was eat, sleep, breathe, and think nothing but Science Olympiad, focused on my events all day and night, looked forward to going to the lab everyday, and my commitment really paid off at that years division B competitions, where I medalled in all my events at Blue Dragon and Regionals, and (almost) top 10 in everything at States.

I think there was always a chance that I could've quit before 8th grade, but after the 2016 season, where I realized how good I could be at Science Olympiad, and how much I enjoyed it, it became a major part of my life, and nothing could change that.

So in the end, I owe it to Brother Nigel and my brother, both of whom sort of dragged me into the competition, and spurred on my growth as a competitor and person. Their actions changed the future of Kellenberg Science Olympiad, and I like to think maybe even the Science Olympiad community in general! I don't know where I'd be without either of them or any of my precious friends either on the high school team who I spent those days at invitationals with or my teammates in 2016 who inspired me to be a better leader and competitor <3
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