Science Olympiad wins second place at regional tournament

Team sees improvement from previous years

The Oak Park Science Olympiad team came close to victory when they placed second at their regional tournament on March 9 at the University of California Santa Barbara. Out of the 23 events, the team won awards in 18 events.

Some members said they credit this success to the new team captains.

“Although we had a few setbacks due to the poor organization of the competition in Santa Barbara, all of our studying and hard work paid off at competition when we placed in 18 out of 23 events and second overall,” senior and treasurer Rasjot Singh said. “Under the leadership of co-captains Jonathan Vu and Wayne Xiao, we were very successful.”

Singh placed third in CodeBusters, Experimental Design and Fermi Design, as well as first in Dynamic Planet. This year, he said he worked with the board in order to make this year as successful as possible.

“It was refreshing to have so many of our members get medals and to have the team get so close to state,” junior Sahith Doddipalli said. “It was [an] assurance of our future success and, moreover, the growth of this club.”

The team met up on weekends in order to prepare for the competition and get familiar with their partners, since many already had a lot of experience in their events.

“Our co-presidents were absolutely amazing in setting up meetings where the entire team could gather and study,” Doddipalli said. “Other than that, I just worked on the [study] guides with my partners.”

Doddipalli won first place in Anatomy and Physiology, Astronomy and Fossils. In addition, he will be co-captain of the team next year with junior Kaitlyn Lee.

For senior Anish Natarajan, Science Olympiad allowed him to meet and connect with other people who had similar interests in STEM. Natarajan won third place for Experimental Design and Write It, Do It.

“One of the best things about the program is how it lets you network with students across Southern California who share the same passion for science,” Natarajan said. “Going to competition and being in proximity with hundreds of people who have dedicated their time and energy to Science Olympiad is an extremely rewarding experience.”

Science Olympiad has also taught the members valuable skills, such as teamwork, according to Doddipalli.

“As with any competitive event, Science Olympiad has greatly improved my collaborative skills and time management,” Doddipalli said. “It’s also taught me the importance of group success: each and every member is vital to the team’s performance.”

According to the Becker Hospital Review, interest in STEM fields has declined by over 10 percent in boys between the ages of 13 and 17. However, there has been a four percent increase in interest from girls in the same age range. The Olympiad competition’s wide variety of topics also changed the members’ outlook on science.

“Science Olympiad has taught me to think critically and analytically, as well as to think across many disciplines,” Singh said. “Each of the events cover a specific topic under the broad range of ‘science’ from environmental science to chemistry to engineering events.”

Both Singh and Natarajan have a strong belief that the team will do even better in the coming years.

“I believe wholeheartedly that the team cabinet selected for next year will have an excellent chance of placing first in the regional competition and going onto state,” Natarajan said. “This year, we have worked tirelessly in order to reach for the stars, and I think that next year we will finally get there.”

Doddipalli and Singh said they have the same goal for next year.

“I hope that next year, under the leadership of co-captains Kaitlyn Lee and Sahith Doddipalli, they can work even harder than we did this year and accomplish our ultimate goal: beat Westlake,” Singh said.