Olympiad experience

Hello everybody!

There were a series of posts on the NUSHS forum regarding Olympiad experience.. The seniors were just giving advice to juniors on whether the latter should go for Olympiads in light of other things e.g. CCAs, school modules etc.. I'm not gonna do that; I just wanna do a short post on what the experience was like. I am not very good so I am not qualified to give the invaluable advice that Vanessa and Zhong Ming gave last year (check out their post! =))



Singapore Biology Olympiad (SBO)

Training

I have always loved Biology since I was year 1. We started training in Sem 2 of Year 5 (i.e. we get trained for 1 Sem) but for this year's year 5s, I believe they have already started. When the class was first formed, we had to use the theatrette for the first two lessons. But then some people decided that they did not want to have to study a few (7-10) chapters of the Bio textbook every two weeks in order to sit for a 1hr 50 MCQ "practice" (i.e. graded quiz). We subsequently had lessons in a classroom.

We began training for the Practical after our school exams ended. All 20 were trained because there was simply too little time between the Theory and the Practical (3 weeks only) to train only those who made it into the Practical. About a week before the Theory, the SBO committee decided to limit every school such that each school can only send in 10% of their biology-taking cohort (i.e. those who dropped Bio in Year 5 are not counted). Apparently there were overwhelming numbers, because, as I heard, a lot of schools like to send some people for Bio O. So only 14 people got to represent our school. I think that's a sad reality to face. Some people really put in their heart and soul (some more than me) but didn't get to participate in Theory in the end.

In hindsight, I feel that the school training did not prepare us sufficiently for the SBO, except in the Physio area. There was a lot more reading to be done outside of Campbell, like what Vanessa has mentioned. Really hope this year's juniors will be better-prepared!

Gruelling hours at NTU

The test was held at NIE gymnasium. I can't remember the format for sure but it was something like four sections of 50 MCQs, with one 30min break in the middle.

I recall that our school team was quite tensed as we rode the chartered bus from school. Half of us were trying to cram. These people were generally the more motivated ones and those who subsequently made the Practical were cramming, thought the converse is not true.

The competition atmosphere was very tense and the chief invigilator was very strict. We had to put our bags in a separate room; sitting arrangements were fixed; they emphasized again and again that we must put our table numbers on our papers and worst of all: before the test, during the break and after the test, students from a particular school kept repeating the information that they know and compared answers. People were generally competitive, except for this one young man who sat to my right and slept for most of the test.

I was a bit disappointed because we had a lot of "recall" questions, which was different from what Vanessa experienced. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the shiok experience of going through something so intellectually challenging.

Singapore Chemistry Olympiad (SChO)

Training

Training started in year 5 sem 1. I didn't initially make the training class but because some people dropped out, I got pulled in. In Sem 1, we had 40+ people training. By Sem 2, we only had a class of 27. I am still not sure why I hung on. Maybe it is because Mr Murali encouraged me to stop whining and study hard for this SChO. I did the former but not the latter; I just attended all the training sessions.

After the exams, we had the fortune of getting trained by 2009 IChO gold medallist Terry. He is really very familiar with the topics and knew what to expect. Our school also supported us by loaning out 22 Chemistry Cube books to the class. Chem Cube is a power-packed book that condenses Physical, Organic and Inorganic Chem all into one.

High spirits at NUS

The Theory was held across two lecture theatres (LTs) in NUS. The NUS High team was allocated to LT27. Compare this with Bio O: we could sit anywhere in the LT we wanted as long as we put our registration numbers on our paper; we could leave once we were done; we could keep our bags with us as long as we didn't refer to anything from our bags.

The NUS High team was enthusiastic and excited as we rode the public bus from school. We even took a group photo and did a cheer before entering the LT!

Our confidence was reasonably founded. As ZM and Nes alluded to, our school curriculum prepares us sufficiently well for the SChO, though I can't say the same for IChO. The questions were no more difficult than what we encounter in our school exams, except for one question that required us to derive an equation. We didn't get tested on Biochem and solid packing even though we prepared for it. I don't know whether I can tell you the numbers for the medals yet because the school hasn't announced it so I'll just hold it for now ;)

General reflections

As you would have realised as I described the training process, people who take olympiads must have a HUGE DOSE of MOTIVATION. Like ZM mentioned, being good doesn't mean you'll excel in olympiads, though the converse is true. Plus you need a lot of DISCIPLINE to study even though your level mates are already through studying for their school exams and are busy with their ARPs.

Olympiads are definitely a once-in-a-lifetime (unless you're a genius and you start taking them with your seniors) experience and I cherish that. However, two Year 8s mentioned in NUSH google groups that two years down the road, what you remember is not the info you learnt from olympiads, but the insights gained from your ARP/IRPs. I hope that puts things in perspective =)

Arnold Bennett: The real tragedy is the tragedy of the man who never in his life braces himself for his one supreme effort-- he never stretches to his fully capacity, never stands up to his full stature.