Coming up in a few weeks is the science symposium at our school! I am very excited because I finally get to show off my experiments that I've been working on all year in my Research in Molecular Genetics class. Teachers and students are paying homage to our dedication throughout this year that has basically gone unnoticed. I just love the milieu because everyone seems so impressed with your work and are greatly appreciative of it. In the past science fair at Rutgers I constantly mispronounced large words that had to do with my project because I didn't rehearse it enough, so this time I am going to rehearse a dozen times at least so I don't say any malapropisms. The Rutger's science fair was actually awesome. I couldn't believe that many people performed their own experiments and did such a good job! Personally I was a little scared because I had never participated in a science fair like this and I was afraid it was going to be as geeky as it sounds. I filmed fruit flies for my experiment and somehow I managed to organize my paraphernalia, which included my video tapes, laptops, poster, and video camera so that my station looked extremely professional. One person at the fair created a song from a laser! He could move the laser in such a way to make music. It was very cool, and could create a euphony with light! Maybe it's just me but I can't seem to comprehend this. Moreover, the judges were tough though, some even argued with you. For instance, one person told me I should have analyzed my data using a different statistical test, but Mr. Wieland told me that test wouldn't work. We reached animpasse because of the two different opinions between statisticians, and the judge just left with a bad look on his face. For the most part though the judges were equitable and treated every candidate fairly because I heard one judge ask the same questions to me as they did to my friend. Talking to judges all day was not easy. We had to stand on our feet for 3 hours! luckily I got a chair so it wasn't horrible, but I was standing for about 2 hours. Thinking about their questions was also draining, and by the time I got on the bus I was enervated and fell asleep immediately. But before I went on the bus to go home, we had an awards ceremony. At first no one from our school was getting called up to win any prizes, but eventually someone did. IT WAS ME! I was the first person to get an award. I won second place in my category. It took long enough! My friend who is a senior didn't get any awards, and he worked so hard on his project. I felt really bad because his face looked lugubrious and that he was personally unhappy with the results.
