A SciOly Weekend in Texas
First Science Olympiad event of the year for the Jellobear and it was a travel event to Austin Texas. We had been planning it for some time but as the week before came the Jellobear was very busy and more than a little stressed about it all. To say the least she was only barely prepared for the competition and working on fumes to get everything else done. The team actually left and were in Austin on Friday but we decided to leave Friday night so that she wouldn’t miss school. So they had three teams at the University of Texas Invitational Science Olympiad competition. This is the first in person event in two years. The Jellobear has a bit of experience pre-covid with in-person events but most of the rest of the team has only ever done remote events. This is also the first travel event for the team.
A bit of background on the whole Science Olympiad situation. Last year the Jellobear’s school got a new Science Olympiad teacher and coach. He has coached at national level schools previously and runs a very serious program. Think on the level of high school football in Texas kind of serious. The team did well last year but there is a rival team in our district that just barely beat them in the Southern California State Final competition and they went to Nationals. This year and building on last year the team is in the hunt to go to Nationals which incidentally will be held at Caltech in Pasadena this year. The Jellobear did well and was voted the most valuable team member last year. So, she is pretty keen about this year and is one of the team leaders. The draw for the competition in Austin, along with being a travel event, was that the number three team in the country and a previous Nationals winning team, Beckendorff, was there and this is sort of their home event.
So we headed out to Austin on Friday night and got in just after midnight. I sprang for the upgrades we flew in business class which was a bit nicer since I knew we were coming in late. The Jellobear was able to get some sleep on the plane. We got to the hotel quickly and were in bed asleep within 40 minutes of landing. It was an early morning to the competition on Saturday morning. Not knowing what the situation for the team was going to be I brought a comfortable folding chair with me. I was glad I did. Although we were in a nice classroom all day the chairs were small, fixed and uncomfortable. I set up my chair and proceeded to relax all day. I napped, read a book, listened to music, listened to an audio book and took it easy. I actually read a whole book during the day. The Jellobear did her events and hung out with the team. It was good to see some of the parents that I recognized from the before times and to meet some of the newer parents.
At the end of the day, we packed everything up and walked around campus while waiting for the awards ceremony. We took some team pictures in a couple locations before making our way to the auditorium for the awards. The kids were excited but also tired from their day of competing. While waiting for the awards ceremony the coach encouraged the kids to mingle with the Beckendorff team. A little bit late, as usual, the kids filed into the auditorium. The parents were filed into another auditorium to watch a live-stream of the awards ceremony. A bit of grumbling from the parents as these live-streams never go well and take away from the opportunity to get pictures of their child getting medals but that is how it goes. The awards started even later than fashionably late but that is how the events go. As the events and winners were read our team did VERY well with all three teams getting medals in a variety of events. The rival Beckendorff was also getting a lot of medals as well but our gut tally seemed like we were beating them. Sure enough when the overall team awards were read out our team had won the competition. When we looked back at the scores all three teams had placed in the top 5 for the event which is phenomenal. The Jellobear had won both of her events and got to accept the overall team winning trophy on the team’s behalf.
Team Photo at University of Texas
The Jellobear with the team trophy
With the awards out of the way we headed to a restaurant for dinner. We were late for the reservation but the restaurant had pizza and pasta and some other things on for the kids. No one much cared as they were tired and hungry. We got back to the hotel and pretty much went to bed exhausted.
As we had arrived late on Friday night I didn’t reserve a rental car and using a bit of thought that most parents would be better organized and thus would have a rental car I figured there would be an adequate surplus of rental cars and we could get a ride. This would make for a much more relaxing trip. Luckily the Jellobear concurred and was able to secure us rides for the whole remainder of the trip except for the one ride from the airport to our hotel.
Sunday morning came fast even with a bit of a sleep in. The Jellobear went down to breakfast early to have a debrief with the coaches and the other team leaders. They ended up taking way too much time and she had to gobble down her breakfast and rearrange our rides as we went to the destination for the highlight of the trip (as I discovered). We got a ride with the coach to the Nerf It Up facility where a couple hours of Nerf gun battles were planned. We made a quick stop at a Walmart to buy a Nerf gun so that the coach could be assured of having a working gun. His experience with this was that he was definitely a target and having an inadequate Nerf gun would not be a good idea. The kids and many of the adults enjoyed the Nerf battle before a quick lunch and the trip to the airport.
Our flight was a bit later than most of the team so we had a leisurely afternoon hanging out at the airport. We had a treat of some local ice cream while relaxing and napping before out flight home.
Team at Nerf It Up.
It was a fun weekend with the Jellobear. I got to travel and relax - two of my favorite things to do on a weekend while hanging out with the Jellobear. We had a great trip and she had an excellent result from her event. Now she and the team are definitely pumped up to start the season and hopefully make it to Nationals this year.