After performing very well at the March 1 College of Lake County regional, with both varsity and JV teams placing second, U-High’s Science Olympiad team is headed to the state competition at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign on April 12.
Varsity members earned 10 individual first place wins, more than any other team.
According to an Instagram post from the Science Olympiad team, the team “killed it at regionals,” achieving such high results due to their intense dedication and passion toward the team, and their even-better spirit.
“I think everyone who is a part of the team worked really hard to get us where we are now,” said junior Rachel Xiang, an engaged member of Science Olympiad. “Everybody’s very smart and diligent in their work.”
Despite the regional competition having been nerve-racking, she thinks that the expectation to do well pressures people to work even harder, leading to achieving such high results.
“What’s really great about Science Olympiad is everyone’s passionate, and we can work with each other to go through the events,” Rachel said, emphasizing how no one is alone in Science Olympiad.
Another Science Olympiad member — senior Maxine Hurst, one of the team captains — also notices the supportive environment of the team, adding that while the atmosphere is competitive, people aren’t too hard on each other.
“I feel close to my Science Olympiad community,” Maxine said. “I think it’s an uplifting group of people, and we all are there to support each other.”
This benefits the team as they head toward the state competition.
“It’s definitely not something we take for granted,” Maxine said, referring to the competition. “It’s a really great experience, getting to go down there with the team, and we try to make the most of it.”
For Maxine, the Science Olympiad team is exactly what she’d want it to be.
“This year, we have our eyes set on nationals,” said Maxine, “but we’re just going to do the best we can.”
