Science Olympiad at Poly is back for another amazing year of discovery and competition. Many of you may not know about the Science Olympiad team or what we do, so I’ve assembled the leadership team to answer all your burning questions.

Meet The Team:

Sylvia Mary Njoroge

William Allen – Vice President

Camille Coffey – Historian

Bryan Hijam – Co-Treasurer

Ashley Romero – Co-Treasurer

Q: What’s your favorite SciOly event?

SN: Experimental Design

CC: Forensics

Q: What’s the most interesting fact that you’ve learned in SciOly?

CC: Studying Ecology last year, I read a paper about an upcoming spotted lanternfly crisis. It was so interesting to see it being reported on later and knowing that I had answered test questions about it months before.

Q: Do you have any medals or awards?

BH: I have one medal from the state competition in environmental chemistry. Everyone struggled in that event, thankfully we just struggled slightly less.

CC: I have two medals from states (Forensics and environmental chemistry) and maybe 5 or 6 from regionals.

Q: How would you describe SciOly in three words?

SN: Challenging, diverse, breathtaking

WA: Challenging, supportive, and fun

Q: What’s your favorite thing about competition?

WA: Competition days are days where you often spend several hours with your team and get to know them better. SciOly provides great opportunities for bonding and becoming more comfortable doing research on things that we actually like.

CC: Competition is just such a fun time, there’s so much adrenaline and team bonding, it’s unforgettable.

Q: What motivated you to join SciOly at Poly?

SN: In 10th grade, I confirmed that I wanted to have a career in STEM; however, I didn’t know where in STEM. After joining the Science Olympiad Club, I quickly found that I enjoyed the most versatile lab event (Experimental Design) and the physics-based events (Trajectory, WiFi Lab, etc.) This experience led me to the conclusion that I would most likely enjoy physics lab research.

WA: I felt like I didn’t do enough freshman year, so when offered the opportunity to explore my interests in STEM, I gladly took it.

BH:  I joined Science Olympiad because I realized that STEM is one of my favorite things and I intend on pursuing a career in it in the future. Science Olympiad opened the door for me to explore various different fields of STEM in a friendly, competitive environment.

Q: What’s your favorite SciOly memory?

WA: Last year during states, it began pouring rain after I finished my last event for the day. My partner (now in college) and I were “trapped” in the building because of the rain. Thankfully Bryan was able to come get us with his umbrella, but there was only space for two under the umbrella. I decided to run the wrong way in the rain but we eventually made our way to where we were supposed to go. Afterwards, we signed shirts and called it a day.

BH: My favorite science Olympiad moment was running and scrambling through the pouring rain to get back to our room during states. It was pretty uncomfortable from a physical standpoint but it was super fun (to a degree) and was a pretty interesting bonding experience.

CC: Last year at States I was pretty convinced I performed terribly in all my events. Later that night I got a call at one in the morning, the scores had just come out and I learned that the Poly team had earned two medals, both of which were in events I did, I couldn’t have been more happy.

Q: When does the science Olympiad team meet?

CC: Thanks for asking! We meet Mondays and Thursdays after school in room 158, and you can follow us @bpi.MSO on instagram for updates!