User:EwwPhysics
Hi! EwwPhysics went to Bala Cynwyd Middle School (class of 2020), and my high school is Lower Merion High School (class of 2024). In late May in my 7th grade year, my friends (most of which were in SciOly) convinced me to join! We were losing a lot of god 8th graders, so they needed as many older people in the club as possible. At first, I was convinced that I would only do SciOly for a year, to help out my friends. I was planning to quit in high school due to my super busy schedule. However, after doing SciOly for a couple months, I grew to love it. Once I had been to my first competition, Rustin, I became completely committed and knew that I couldn't simply quit (even though my performance wasn't as good as I had hoped). At the end of February in my 8th grade year, I discovered scioly.org, and created an account on the forums. Connecting with fellow sciolyers from across the country has been a wonderful experience, and I'm so glad that I was convinced to get an account (shoutout to IHateClouds!).
Results (don't judge me)
8th Grade (2019-2020)
Rustin Invitational
This was my first competition ever for scioly, and it was super exciting! There were a couple of bombs - I had really hoped to place in Heredity, but unfortunately our score was worse than I had thought it would be due to a number of reasons (i.e. my partner being stupid, me being stupid for not checking his work, and weird test with some wrong answers in the answer key). My meh performance motivated me to study a lot before our next competition, Garnet Valley.
Team - 5th (or 8th, life is confusing)
Heredity - 20th
WIDI - 15th
Circuit Lab - 14th (or 13th? I forget...)
Fossils - 4th
Garnet Vally Invitational
This was definitely my best performance at any competition in my 8th grade year. The most memorable moment at this competition was watching my friend compete in Mission Possible. He could have easily placed, but his clumsiness made him drop the golf ball so that it bounced off of the cup that it was supposed to go in, and then trigger the final action (which disqualified all of the previous actions because they're supposed to go in order). He wasn't even able to get points for the final action because, although it was triggered, the ball did not land on the tee. We were upset because of the bomb, but it was worth it for the laughs!
Team - 4th
Circuit Lab - 7th
Fossils - 4th
WIDI - 3rd
Heredity - 3rd
Regionals (SEPA South)
After my high point at Garnet Valley, my placings at regionals were a bit of a disappointment (Garnet Valley is basically states in terms of the competition and test difficulty, and my average at regionals was worse than my average at Garnet Valley). I have my excuses for why certain events didn't do so well, but in the end I knew that I had to study and practice more for states. Unfortunately, states was canceled due to COVID-19, so I never got to see how well I would have done. I was disappointed that my first chance to compete at states (and last for a couple of years, as I was moving up to a very competitive high school) was ruined, but was glad that I could start prepping for high school early!
Team - 1st
Circuit Lab - 7th
WIDI - 7th
Heredity - 3rd
Fossils - 1st
Random Stuff About Me
My username: Honestly I wasn't thinking when I thought of it... on a science olympiad website, it probably isn't the best idea to "ew" a branch of science that many people love. Please note that I do not hate physics, I just prefer other branches of science, especially biology.
I was pleased to contribute for the 2020 Pseudonats! I helped to write tests for the events Punnett Square Dancing and Octogenarians.
I am also very happy to compete in Pennsylvania. It is one of the most competitive states in the country, and I am very glad for that. In Div. B, at least when I was competing, there were many teams that would have been very competitive nationally (i.e. could get top ~20-30 at nats), such as Bala Cynwyd (just putting my team first for pride, not saying that we're better than some of these other schools...),Springhouse, Harlan Rowe, Shady Side, and Eagle View. Div C is perhaps even more competitive, with Lower Merion (again, my team first just because I feel like it), Harriton, Rustin, Conestoga, Penncrest, Shady Side, etc. I love being forced to work hard. Sure, we don't make nats as often as we would if we were in a less competitive state, but it's worth it for the motivation that it gives me and my fellow teammates!
Besides SciOly, I like to play piano and study random biology stuff. I also play cello for my school orchestra. I'm planning to participate in my schools FIRST Robotics team in high school (see here).
Favorite Quotes
“It is time for the human race to enter the solar system!”
-Dan Quayle
“It isn’t pollution that is harming the environment. It’s the impurities in the air and water that are doing it.”
-Dan Quayle
“Space is almost infinite. In fact, we think it is infinite!”
-Dan Quayle
“If you give a man a fish, he’ll fish for a day. But if you train a man to fish, he’ll fish for a lifetime.”
-Dan Quayle
“One word sums up the responsibility of any Vice President, and that one word is “to be prepared””
-Dan Quayle