March 18, 2019

It finally happend: judgement day. I must admit, this post is a bit late, but time was not on my side due to the german Abitur (leaving exams), which are now mostly done. Jugend Forscht, the german equivalent of the Science Fair and the competition I submitted this project to, is divided into three levels: regional, state and national. The competition is also divided into categories (physics, math & computer science, biology, chemistry, technology and workplace), of which I chose to submit my project in the "workplace" category due to it being more of a product than a traditional experiment, and because I felt that the "workplace" category provided a specific focus on the real-world application. In hindsight, it was likely a mistake, since that category might have unintentionally devalued the project, but what is done is done. Anyway, the winner of each category, meaning only first place, is qualified to attend the next highest level.

The competition itself was quite exciting and not without a fair bit of adrenaline. First, all outlets in my room except for one were off, meaning that only one team actually had electricity (pretty catastrophic for a room occupied by primarily workplace and technology groups), and since we didn't want to chain connecter strips and plug in a load of power-hungry asscories into one outlet, we had to wait, costing us our entire setup time. Great.

After a short welcoming speech, lists were hung up where each of us could see when the jury would likely be arriving at our booth, at which point we were supposed to give a short presentation and be ready for questions. I prepared immensely for this presentation, and thanks to the help of teachers and peers, I had a well-rounded and practiced presentation which I could hold without too much stress and which I could change to fit the jury's questions and general expectations. Perfect.

Of course, practicing a presentation is not the same as holding one, and I wasn't perfect, but I believe managed to convey important information in a seemingly professional but also casual way. I answered some questions, but the jury had so little time that I had to hurry through some parts of the presentation, but that was pretty much fine.

After the presentation (since I was one of the last teams to present), there was lunch (lasagne :)), and a selection of tours across the indusrial park where this competition was being held. I chose to visit the on-site firefighters, believing that I might gather more information for my project, but, since the younger branch of the Jugend Forscht (Schüler Experimentieren) was being held in tandem with the more mature branch (where everyone must be at least 15 years of age), my tour was filled to the brim with 9-year-olds amazed at the size of the fire engines. Well, so much for that idea, but it was still fun and relaxing.

I know that you are probably wondering when, or even if, I will "cut to the chase": did I win? Well, just a few more sentences, and you will know.

After the tour, the competition was opened to the public, meaning that people could wander in and admire our projects, people like the mayor, the local representative for the national parlaiment, state ministers and private individuals. Long story short: I met a lot of people. Finally, we were called to the buses, which would take us to where the award ceremony was to be held (we weren't allowed to walk within the industrial park for security/safety reasons). Speeches were held, thank-yous were said, and one by one, the different categories were called onto the stage, and awards were given, with the younger branch (filled with at least 40-50 children) going through their categories first. I was among the first of the older branch to be called up to the stage. Excited, but wanting to seem professional, I just stood on the stage without much of an expression. Since we were only 3 teams in the "workplace" category, I thought my chances were pretty good. Third place was announced; not me. Unintentionally, I glance over to the lectern and spot the list for my category. My heart sank as I saw that I was not in first place. Suddenly, as I glance over to my name, I spot something extremely interesting: my name did not have the second place attributed to it. Instead, a special prize was noted next to my name, a prize which the woman holding the ceremony had just explained. It was a special prize given to projects which included aspects from many categories, and it was equivalent to a first prize.

The first prize was announced, and I could see the mix of shock and dissappointment on the face of my research mentor as she realized that I hadn't won in my category. Me, already knowing what was about to happen, remained absolutely calm. My prize was announced, and boy was I happy. I accpeted my award, the invitation to the state level and a letter detailing how to accept the prize money, waited for everyone to recieve their prizes, and happily strolled off the stage. Mission Success!

I may look angry or grim, but trust me, I'm just focused.

The state level competition is being held on the 27. and 28. of March, meaning I am already buried deep in preperations. A bigger booth means that a new poster has to be made, and the increased amount of time requires me to have a few more tricks up my sleeve, but I am incredibly excited! Lets see how far I can take this project...