Recently, the Northport Science Olympiad team went to Hauppauge High School to participate in a yearly regional competition for the chance to show off their science skills. The competition is separated by events, themed for different topics. Some are building events such as building a bridge; others require intense studying for topics such as anatomy and physiology, ornithology, or forensics. Each student, including myself, chose to do between 2-6 of these events, preparing since early October with their event-specific partners. 

Some required thick binders of notes, others only a note sheet, and some just needed the team’s combined brains. Due to Covid-19, last year Northport declined to participate in Science Olympiad, opting to do optional small scale events against each other, hoping to win a small prize of gift cards and coupons.

So why do people join it, if it requires so much work? Senior Captain Luke Frisoli has been doing Science Olympiad since sophomore year and said, “It’s been fun, I’ve had to work hard, really practice a lot. I won’t lie, it’s been very stressful, but it’s been a good kind of stressful. Kind of stress that motivates you. In my time here, I’ve done codebusters, which introduces you to cryptology, astronomy, chem lab, and while all these events are very difficult, you learn a lot while preparing for them.” 

Similarly, another senior, Captain Maddox Smith said, “It brings kids together, to study topics that are more specialized, and gives them a chance to compete against each other. I did ornithology, “Write It Do It,” rocks and minerals, astronomy, and forensics. I really enjoyed all of my events, definitely hard to learn so much in the time frame, but I feel like I rose to the challenge, and my competitive nature compelled me to work harder. I feel like I learned a lot of stuff in a short amount of time. I learned a lot about a broad variety; such as bird identification, rock hardness scales, about the different types of astronomy stuff, neutron size, and hair typing.”

Freshman Nicole Chang said that, “I joined because it was science, and I like science. It was fun being a freshman in it, because you see the older grades there, and you’re doing the same things they are. It was fun meeting people I’d ordinarily not get to know. I’d definitely do it again next year, same events if possible which are Code busters, Anatomy and physiology, and green generation. My favorite event was probably Green Generation because it was fun, and made you think about your experiences of common knowledge. It’s basically ecology but more detailed and more interesting in my opinion.” 

Like Luke, Maddox, and Nicole said, the Science Olympiad is stressful, but it’s fun too. In my opinion, it doesn’t feel like you learn things just to spit it out blindly; you really do learn things. This year, I took on codebusters, and green generation—the latter two with Nicole Chang this year—and I feel as though I’ve come out of it learning more. How to decrypt and encrypt half a dozen cipher types, memorizing part of the Morse Code Alphabet, different legislative environmental policies, what form greenhouse gasses, and the like.   

When asked about how the preparatory work was, the general consensus was that the Northport advisors did a great job at preparing students for the competition to do as well as possible. Referring to the actual tournament day, Nicole said, “It was really exciting and fun as my first one. There’s such a rush of adrenaline when you walk in, ready to apply all the knowledge you’ve been preparing for months.” 

Maddox and Luke agreed that it was stressful and overwhelming, but well worth it. 

Next year, Nicole, the rest of the team, and I look forward to returning to the Science Olympiad, armed with knowledge acquired from this year, to prepare even harder, and be better informed for the competition of 2023. New members are welcome to join next year to join in the stressful and amazing event to bring Northport to some medals in events.