Science Olympiad is a competition-based club that involves 23 different events spanning across different branches of STEM. The events range from study, lab, build and hybrid events, each of which has distinct formats and requires different skills. Through their performance in these events, BVN’s Science Olympiad has placed in the top five at the state and regional competitions since 2019.
Junior Gabe Ledgerwood has been involved in Science Olympiad since 8th grade and currently serves as one of five officers. He is involved in two events: Codebusters, a study event that requires decoding encryptions utilizing a knowledge of ciphers, as well as Forensics, a lab event that requires a series of tests in order to solve a crime.
“One of the main reasons I chose to do Science Olympiad in high school was exploring STEM careers, so I chose events that I might want to go into as a career,” Ledgerwood said. “That way, when I’m in university or beyond that, I have those prerequisites.”
In order to prepare for his events, Ledgerwood utilizes his knowledge of the material in addition to a notesheet.
“The best way to do well in an event is to know what you’re doing, know the concepts and know the material so you don’t have to rely on the notes,” said Ledgerwood. “I don’t do too many study events, but I found that knowing things in, say, AP science classes, would really help.”
Ledgerwood believes that preparation is also important in handling the stress of competitions.
“I’d say the best way to handle [stress] is to just be prepared. Even if you see something on your test that you don’t know, just take a deep breath and don’t stress over it because then you can use it as a learning experience for the next test,” said Ledgerwood.
In addition to improving through competitions, Ledgerwood explains that he continues to participate in Science Olympiad due to the community involvement.
“It’s a community, so we encourage each other. That’s why we have weekly meetings so we can collaborate on events and bounce ideas off each other,” said Ledgerwood.
In contrast, sophomore Shreyas Venkatachalam is a member of Science Olympiad who continues to participate due to the competitions.
“[Science Olympiad] is fun when you figure out your events and are able to consistently be in some competitions,” said Venkatachalam. “So it’s kind of a little challenge, and it’s fun getting the medals and everything.”
Venkatachalam, who has been involved in Science Olympiad since 7th grade, participates in the build events, including Boomilever, Helicopter and Robot Tour. Build events require him to build the best type of structure possible as per the parameters.
“I want to probably do something related to engineering,” said Venkatachalam. “So in Science Olympiad, I do all the build events. It’s a good way to practice and see if I actually want to do engineering.”
In order to study for his build events, Venkatachalam does not need to prepare a notes sheet. Instead, he tests his structures repeatedly to improve their quality.
“For build events, there’s a little bit less studying you’d have to do, and more of repetitions,” said Venkatachalam. “How many times can you practice, how many times can you get stuff done, how many times can you test it and what can you change?”
Venkatachalam expands that he hopes to continue improving on his performance in build events from the prior year.
“I would like to actually place at state, get a medal, and then also, hopefully, as a team we make it to Nationals again,” said Venkatachalam.
Venkatachalam believes that other students should get involved in Science Olympiad as well.
“Within the team, it gives a healthy competition because everyone’s going to try to do better so they can have a spot on the team. But then also, individually, you learn a lot from Science Olympiad,” said Venkatachalam. “Also, it’s quite fun, and it’s a good way to meet new people who are interested in similar things, like a STEM career or science.”
