BEDORD, N.Y. - “I am so truly proud of these kids,” said Science Research teacher Amy Pirro. “Not just because of the awards they won, but because of how they acted at the ceremony as well as during the year leading up to the competition. These are passionate, innovative, perseverant, and caring kids.”
The students won an impressive array of awards:
Fourth Place: Olivia Eckert
The competition at WESEF is a bit more intense than some of the other competitions students had participated in.
“WESEF is the second largest high school science fair, the only one larger is ISEF (Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair),” said junior Nadia Creiner. “You give anywhere from four to six individual presentations to judges, whereas at other competitions with slideshow presentations, you present at a set time to a panel of judges and peers.”
Having one-on-one conversations with the judges is one of the most intimidating parts of this competition. Junior Olivia Eckert noted that she practiced her presentation non-stop—to friends at lunch, to teachers, while driving her car. She was determined to think of as many questions as possible that the judges might ask her.
“I was definitely most scared of the judges' questions about my project,” Olivia said. “When you're giving your presentation, it is easy to prepare what you're going to say—it's almost like memorizing a script. But the questions portion is much more unpredictable and difficult to feel ready for. This is also when the judges can ‘get you’; they want to make sure that you know everything there is to know about your project, so they ask nitpicky questions aimed at tripping you up.”
Nadia found comfort in thinking about the situation in a different way.
“It can be quite intimidating to present your work to someone, but I find it helpful to not think of it as a presentation, but as a conversation,” she said. “You have a lot of knowledge on a specific subject, and you are getting the opportunity to share it with someone. So be excited, be kind and be open to the questions, not scared of them.”
Another intimidating aspect of the competition was the caliber of students who were presenting—but that also came with an unexpected upside.
“This fair helped me feel more confident in my ability to compete with other people,” Olivia said. “It's easy to compare yourself to others—especially when the people around you seem to be on another level of intelligence. But just being able to present my project in an impactful way has helped me see that even though other people seem like they have everything going on, that doesn't mean I don't. Even if I didn't win an award, I'd still leave the fair with a sense of achievement because standing up there in front of a bunch of judges surrounded by people who you might think are way smarter than you is really half the battle.”
Both Olivia and Nadia also noted that, while the other students could feel intimidating or like rivals, there was also a feeling of camaraderie at the competition.
“You are in a room or hallway with anywhere from two to a hundred people, all waiting for judges to hear your presentation,” Nadia said. “It is a long day, but during the downtime when you don't have a judge, it is a great opportunity to talk to kids from other schools and learn about their research topics.”
Olivia agreed.
“WESEF—and other science fairs I've been in, for that matter—definitely bred connections between students,” she said. “You're in a very crowded gym for nearly eight hours, so it's natural to become friends with the people around you. Even though we are technically each other's competition, the vibes of these fairs are full of camaraderie and support among students.”
After months of research and writing, both Olivia and Nadia found the experience to be a positive one.
“After all of that work and time spent on such elaborate projects, it is rewarding in itself for people to just listen and take an interest in your research,” she said.
Article courtesy of Bedford Central School District.
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