On Saturday, March 3, Vista del Lago’s Science Olympiad team participated in the 2018 Sacramento Regional Science Olympiad at Mira Loma High School.

The competition consisted of 23 events covering various STEM topics. Eleven of Vista’s students participated in the event, including Venkata Alapati, Dylan Vu, Solomon Lo, Danielle Lo, Tanay Jujaray, Jack Bogard, Tyler Fong, Adit Jain, Nayyir Mostafa, Amelia Garcia, and Anthony Zewe.

Sophomore Alapati, Science Olympiad club president, participated in five of the events at the competition. “…I took part in Write It Do It, Game On, Chemistry Lab, Towers, and Ecology… We spent around two months preparing for the competition. However, due to the nature of the competition, we couldn’t all practice with one study guide or activity. This was a challenge that we faced as a club,” said Alapati.

In the five events Alapati participated in out of 32 teams, Vista placed 24th in Write It Do It, 20th in Game On, 11th in Chemistry Lab, 23rd in Towers, and 5th in Ecology. “It was exciting and nervous. It was our first time in the competition…, so it was a bit intimidating. However, I feel like it was a great learning experience for both the [club] members and the officers alike. We learned more about the overall feel and how schools practiced…for the competition,” said Alapati.

Junior Vu, the club historian/webmaster, also participated in several events at this competition. “I participated in Chemistry Lab…and Rocks and Minerals…For Chemistry Lab, I felt particularly comfortable with the topic since I had taken AP Chemistry and knew thermodynamics and physical properties. Because of that, I really only prepared for around two weeks, only compiling notes…For rocks and minerals, it was somewhat of a lower priority for both my partner and me, so we started a week before. A pretty bad move I’d say,” said Vu.

Vu and his partner placed 25th for Rocks and Minerals.

Junior Danielle Lo, the club practice manager, participated in two events as well. “I participated in Dynamic Planet and Fermi Questions…For the competition, we’d been preparing and shifting teams and events, since about November, coupled with individual practice on the side,” said Lo.

In Lo’s events, Vista placed 19th for Dynamic Planet and 8th for Fermi Questions. “Generally, the experience is very fulfilling, as the events give you an opportunity to demonstrate knowledge and apply them in situations outside of textbook scenarios. Since there’s a lot of competitive teams and this was our first year doing Science Olympiad, it’s pretty rewarding to place in the competition and experience a competitive environment as such,” said Lo.

Overall, Vista’s Science Olympiad club did well in their first competition and hopefully will continue to be successful in the future.