Science Olympiad Personal Statement

Hundreds of thoughts swarm through my head, as I think of potential car and launcher designs. It was the beginning of 8th grade. A new year of middle school, a new year of Science Olympiad, a new year of studying for my events, and a new year of challenges: my first building event, Scrambler. I’ve always been interested in science, specifically medicine, ever since I was 7 or 8. I read a book called When I Grow Up, I Want to Be a Doctor, which inspired me to aspire to become a doctor. Ever since then, I’ve been exploring the field of science and medicine through a variety of learning experiences such as Science Olympiad, a science competition consisting of several events that cater to a variety of fields in science. This year, my partner and I were faced with the task of building a mechanical vehicle, powered by a falling mass, that is capable of traveling down a straight, level track with a barrier at the end while carrying an

egg mounted to the front. Our vehicle must stop before the barrier so the egg won’t crack. This problem seemed daunting at first, but we immediately started working.
We carefully planned our launcher and car to the last detail.

“How about we use a pulley system with a weight at the end to push the car forward?” my team member suggested. “Or we could use a hammer launcher,” I proposed. We went back and forth, contemplating different methods. We faced trials, tribulations, and troubles in the design process. Building and perfecting our designs took weeks, but our coach guided us throughout the process and encouraged us to “Never give up!” We researched the effects of different factors that could potentially come in the way of our success and analyzed all of the device possibilities. Even when research got arduous and we couldn’t agree on something, we never gave up on our dream of placing in the regional competition. This was one of the hardest challenges I’ve ever faced in my Science Olympiad career, but our unfaltering dedication and our belief in success helped us persist in the face of setbacks. Once we finished our plan, we began to build the device. It was exhilarating to see our plan come to

life.
First, we started building our launcher. Our launcher consisted of rough, brown wood that formed the base. We carefully nailed it together. It was like two upside down flags connected together by rods. The three rods were scattered throughout the launcher, on the top, bottom, and middle. There were two pulleys on each rod. On the back of our launcher was a piece of PVC, and inside it was our falling mass, rested on a thin, yellow pencil, that was stuck through two holes in the PVC. Attached to the falling mass was a very long piece of string, that wrapped around the meticulous, intricate system of pulleys. Then we built the car. We made a vertical dowel that the string was looped around. The car was composed of a sleek, metal base with three long rods, two on the front and one on the back. Attached to the front two rods was our braking system: a bolt and a wing nut. When the car moved, the axle will turn and the wingnut will hit the bolt and stop the axle. On the ends of the rods were shiny, plastic CD’s covered in two layers of gloves, that functioned as wheels. The CD’s were bolted to the rod and slightly crooked. Finally, at the front of the car were two dowels to hold the egg. When the pencil was pulled, the falling mass fell inside the tube, pulling the string, and pushing the car forward, like a chain reaction. Our car and launcher were carefully planned out and hypothetically made sense and the next step of the process was to test it.
Consequently, we tested our launcher and car several times.We tested the device several times to ensure it’s accuracy. We had to incorporate and perfect several factors, such as the length of the track and barrier, the angle of our car and launcher, and the speed of the car. It was very inconsistent, some days it would work and some days it wouldn’t. My partner and I were frustrated, and our device broke several times. It was a continuous cycle, we tested it, it broke, we fixed it, and so on. It seemed like we would never progress to the competition.
After months of testing, the day before the regional competition came along. We rushed to grab our launcher and car after school and immediately began testing. We didn’t stop testing until we got consistent results. Finally, at around nine at night, we felt confident in our car and launcher and we were ready to compete. It seemed as if our system magically started working consistently. “Finally!” my partner and I exclaimed with triumph.
The next morning at the competition, we entered the gym and sweat dripped down our faces. “Mills Park Middle Varsity” the event leader called. We slowly walked up to the testing hallway. Along the hallway were pieces of painter's tape, that looked miles and miles long to us, but in reality, were a mere 10 meters in length. At the end was the barrier, a piece of wood that was about 3 feet tall. And it was completely dry. Nerves chilled down my spine. Did anyone’s egg hit the barrier? I thought to myself. “Your time begins now” the event leader called. We had 8 minutes to run this device twice. 8 minutes to showcase what we have worked on for months. 8 minutes to make or break everything. Like machines, we systematically set up the device at an abnormally fast speed. Something didn’t feel right. We launched the car and it was by far the worst I’ve ever seen it. It missed the barrier and went tilted. But we had one more shot. We set up the device again. Just as I was about to launch it, I looked around. I saw the other teams watching us, waiting for us to fail, waiting for us to crack the egg, waiting for our demise. I looked at the event leaders, noting our failures and looking for any reason to disqualify us. Just do it! I told myself. I nervously pulled the pencil. The car raced out, like a cheetah being released from its cage. It abruptly stopped about a foot away from the barrier. We walked up to the car and it went straight on the center line. Our jaws dropped to the floor. We were flabbergasted. But, now we had to wait for our placement. We walked to the gym where the awards ceremony took place. We sat down and listened as they called each event in alphabetical order. Every time somebody won an award, cheers and screams lit up the gym as the competitor raced down the bleachers to grab their medal. I hoped that would be me. “Disease Detectives, Division B” the announcer called. My second event. I trembled with fear as they didn’t call our name for tenth, ninth, eighth, seventh, sixth, fifth, or fourth place. Did I make top three or did I not place in the top ten? I thought to myself. Then the words uttered out of the announcer’s mouth. “Third place goes to Mills Park Middle!” I raced down the bleachers to grab my medal. It was laced with white ribbon and gleamed as the volunteer put it on my neck. Soon after that, the announcer called out “Road Scholar, Division B”, my third event. I gleamed with pride when they called me for first place and I retrieved my purple laced gold medal. I quickly got back to where our team was and was greeted with high-fives and proud cheers. But Scrambler was yet to be called.
Finally, after about half an hour, the announcer said “Scrambler, Division B.” We winced in pain when we weren’t called. We failed. Even though Mills Park achieved first place in our division and our whole team advanced to states, we felt unhappy. “Don’t be sad guys, just try harder for states!” our coach said, trying to cheer us up. On the following Monday, we came to school with good and bad news. “Here’s the good news,” our coach told us, “There were scoring errors and you guys actually got fifth place in Scrambler!” I almost screamed with joy. “But here’s the bad news, Road Scholar didn’t get first, you got twelfth and Mills Park Middle didn’t get first, we got second.” A mix of emotions swarmed through my head: anger, frustration, and joy. How could they take first place from us? I felt like Miss Colombia after her Miss Universe title was taken away. But this fueled me to try harder at the state competition.
I worked on my three events for months. I also took on two more events so I studied a lot for my five events. When the state competition came, I felt ready for all five of my events. Scrambler was at the end of the day so I took all of my tests before then. We tested our Scrambler car and we performed about the same as the regional competition. “Will this be good enough to place here at states?” my partner asked. “Hopefully,” I assured him. At the awards ceremony, I placed in two out of five of my events. I placed second in one and fourth in the other. But, we didn’t place in Scrambler. We felt dejected that we didn’t place in the top ten, but sanguine because of our achievements at the regional competition and the fact that we placed in other events. At last, my final year, as a participant, in middle school Science Olympiad was over.
Now, I am in my freshman year of high school. Surprisingly, I made the varsity team on the PCHS Science Olympiad team. I learned from my experience and my mistakes in 8th grade. I learned not to leave anything for the night before the competition and try not to procrastinate. Also, I learned to persist in the face of obstacles and find a way around setbacks. Now, I share my experiences with middle schoolers as I coach the MPMS Science Olympiad team. Recently, we competed at our regional competition and my partner and I placed first in our event, Disease Detectives. I am eager to go to the state competition this year, my first year competing as a high schooler. Before Science Olympiad, I had never experienced failure and getting back up from it. But now, I have learned that failure is not the end and growth is more important. I now have a growth mindset and I work around obstacles. Throughout my Science Olympiad journey I have learned that even if you fail, as long as you persist, you will reach your goal.