By Yvette Lin, Staff Writer
Ocean Bowl
Eyes closed and head focused, freshman Alden Doan calmed his nervous, racing thoughts while anticipating the start of the competition. In the Zoom waiting room, he recalls facts and concepts about marine biology from the team’s last-minute review session before a familiar chime and a friendly ‘hello’ from the moderator welcomed him into the main room.
Doan, alongside Ocean Bowl team captain Elaine Shu and teammates Jonathan Zhao, Katherine Tan and Harrison Zhang, competed in the L.A. Surf Bowl competition on March 6, placing fourth out of seven schools representing Southern California.
“I took this competition as a learning experience overall, but I would like to improve on my confidence in buzzing in,” Doan said. “There were many times where I knew the answer, but second-guessed myself and didn’t answer, costing us points.”
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, two teams would take turns buzzing in with hand-held buzzers in a race to answer as many questions as possible. With restrictions for large indoor gatherings, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory held their annual Surf Bowl competition online. Organizers divided teams into individual breakout rooms and assigned moderators to ask questions and time responses. Topics covered in the competition ranged from physical and chemical oceanography to biology and water policies.
“I feel like low morale is probably the most pressing problem because it’s a lot more fun when it’s in person and it’s more motivation to study,” Shu said. “With everyone meeting once a week on Zoom, I occasionally need to encourage them to turn on their cameras and ask them to write and read rounds themselves so everyone can actively participate.”
Science Bowl
The gentle melody of classical songs flowed from the speakers of junior Harrison Zhang’s laptop as he studied the chemistry word problem before him. Listening to his teammates discussing over the Discord channel, Zhang jotted down his final thoughts before locking in his answer. Going against top schools like Arcadia High School and Troy High School, TCHS Science Bowl placed fourth out of 24 schools at the JPL Science Bowl Regionals on March 20.
“I became interested in joining Science Bowl because I love science, and the fast-paced buzzing caught my eye,” Zhang said. “In-person competition is definitely more fun because of the adrenaline rush, and I think our team has a very high chance of placing first next year.”
Before a competition, the team meets every Tuesday to do practice rounds and every Friday for study sessions. Like Ocean Bowl, JPL changed competition rules to accommodate restrictions, separating teammates into individual breakout rooms. The team divides topics including biology, chemistry, earth science, physics and energy amongst members to improve speed and efficiency.
“The competition was a lot less exciting this year, and a lot of the members thought it was like a watered-down version of the original one,” junior captain Jenny Chen said. “Despite it being pretty lonely during the competition, we had each other and managed to keep each other motivated, and I’m still really happy with our placement.”