Moleskine

Assuming I don't get any cease-and-desist orders from the folks at SciServ for some breach of security, I do plan to blog fairly heavily while in D.C. with some info on exactly what goes on there, what the judging process is like and just what it's like to be there. I forget things pretty quickly so I was thinking I might buy a Moleskine notebook to record my thoughts, observations, impressions, etc. throughout the week, and then blog at night (if I have time, which I quite probably won't). I've heard a lot of really great things about them from Ottmar, Matt, and others, and I've long toyed with the idea of getting one but never really had a reason to, until now. The idea is rather growing on me...

Some Information

The FedEx packages that the lovely people at SciServ sent us arrived yesterday, and I picked it up today (I wasn't at home yesterday to get it). Quite a bit of information these contain! Lots of forms to fill out and send back (one even has to be notarized, how intimidating), as well as lots of information on the week of the Science Talent Institute (STI), better known as the Intel finals. Now, as I alluded to in the previous post, very little is known about exactly what happens at STI, and I remained none the wiser after reading through all the information they sent us. All I know is that most of the week is filled up with gigantic blocks of time which are reserved for ominous-sounding "Judging Interviews".

There was some rather cool stuff in the packet that we did find out. We remain in the dark as to exactly what kind of laptop we get (although I'm personally happy just getting one, instead of having to shell out all that money!), but there was some information as to the precise manner of its arrival (shipped to us in the spring, yay!). The awards banquet is black tie, just like the closing dinner at Siemens, but SciServ is being kind enough to provide all men with complimentary tux rentals. Which is very good, because I don't have a tux and therefore had to go to the Siemens dinner in a mere suit. I must say, I am very intrigued (and slightly disturbed) at the thought of wearing a bowtie. Very Tucker Carlson. We also got some more information about posters--we need to make two, one for the judging and main public session and one for some other public sessions (which I will get more into in a second), but I get the distinct impression, corroborated by things I have heard from past finalists (and by what STS itself says), that the research means relatively little at STI.

Included in the packet was a listing of the judges. The astute observer will notice that while no one is officially affiliated with an astronomy department, there is one astronomer on the list (her department is the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, which is where the astronomers at her institution, the Carnegie Institute of Washington, work, as there's no Department of Astronomy there), and a rather famous astronomer at that. I was actually very surprised to see the name Vera Rubin on the list. Astronomy geeks will know who she is. For the other 99.5% of the population, Dr. Rubin is best known as the astronomer who discovered some of the very first compelling direct evidence of the existence of dark matter. She gave a talk, both about that research and about her experiences as one of the first women at the fore of astronomer, at the meeting of the Society of Physics Students at the recent conference of the American Astronomical Society in D.C., and even though I'm not an undergrad (and therefore can't join SPS quite yet), as the lone high schooler at the conference, I was able to attend nonetheless. Fascinating talk and a very nice woman. I am very much looking forward to seeing her again in D.C.

However, by far the most exciting thing in the package is, we're going to be presenting our research to Congress! On Tuesday the 14th, we'll be setting up posters (the kind we won't be judged on, the public consumption type) on Capitol Hill for the viewing pleasure of science-friendly (well, guess that precludes the Intelligent Design types) members of the House and Senate and their staffers. I mean, I knew we were meeting the President at some point (although, interestingly enough, this is mentioned nowhere in the package--I hope they're still doing it!) but Congress in general, how cool is that?

The package also included lists of this year and last year's finalists, along with addresses, e-mails, etc., so already a round of e-mails has begun. Looks like we'll all know each other before we get to D.C.!

And so it begins...

Ah! So, this is the first post in my brand new, latest and greatest...blog. Funny word, no? "Blog." Anywho. Here I will be chronicling the life and adventures of an Intel STS finalist, from the day of the big announcement through the time leading up to D.C., to the week of the competition and possibly even...beyond? This blog will, I hope, serve as a good reference point for anyone who is curious about the experience, including just what happens during that week in Washington (I still have no idea what happens. Amber Hess's excellent blog provides a nice idea but it is still fairly hazy what goes on there, Science Service tends to be a bit secretive about it, and until proven otherwise I remain convinced that this entire "science competition" is merely a cover-up for a week of Illuminati training).

Today is the day of the official announcement of the finalists of the 65th Science Talent Search. The finalists were all notified either yesterday or today and I am quite pleased to say that I got that big phone call myself yesterday afternoon. How exciting!! It's not my first experience with these big science competitions, as I competed in the regional and national finals of the Siemens-Westinghouse Competition late last year, but Intel is the big one and Siemens success is, as a few minutes of research in the school library yesterday showed while on a bathroom break from Photo 1 showed, rarely an indicator of Intel finalism. So while I knew the phone calls were coming, I have to be honest, my mind was about 50-50 split as to whether I would actually get one.

So around 4:45 PM yesterday, I'm home alone (mom is in Israel and dad is at work) when the phone rings. I check the caller ID. "Unknown." I pick up and as soon as the female voice on the other end asks for Adam Solomon, I sort of just know and I laugh. I don't particularly remember what happened afterwards but I hear something about "Science Service" and then finally, to erase any lingering doubts I might have had, "finalist in the Intel Science Talent Search." Then she tells me I'm on speakerphone with a whole bunch of important people at Science Service and Intel which really isn't good because I, still dumbfounded, have no idea what to say (am silently jumping around the room, however) and, I'm sure, sound like a complete idiot. Then after getting down a little bit of information the call ends and I go to call/IM...well, everybody, really. After a great many celebratory phone calls, my dad gets home and we celebrate at our usual celebratory restaurant, Taste of India. We celebrated with a tikka paneer, a matar paneer, and a murgh makkhani. Yum!

I just checked the STS website. It's around 2 PM now, an hour before the official announcement of the 40 finalists is supposed to go up but they posted it on the website anyway. Very nice to see your name up there! Bios are up, however they did make a little mistake on mine which I'm trying to get them to fix. You can give it a look here.

That being said, I've got to go! The media blitz is beginning already. No school today--it's a five day weekend (midterms today and tomorrow but none for seniors, and then Friday is practice for dress rehearsal for rain date for senior cut day)--so I woke up earlier than I usually do on non-school days. Eleven in the morning. I heard the sound of my teacher, Mrs. Frank's, voice in the hallway and, still a bit dazed and confused, got dressed and came out and she told me how everyone was looking for me and I had to call the principal, call the Newsday reporter, go to Calhoun (another school in my district which just had their first ever finalist--awesome!!) for New York Post pictures, call the New York Post reporter so they have a story to go along with the pictures, go to Newsday's headquarters for more pictures, and then finally come back to my school for a News 12 interview. Although in the end, that got cancelled as there was some sort of breaking news (pfft, like it's more important than Bellmore-Merrick Intel finalists!). But yeah, today has been absolutely crazy in terms of press and publicity. I'm no stranger to it--my interviews were actually much shorter than the other finalists' because they had all my project information from the post-Siemens articles!--but it is still a bit overwhelming. I'm still just trying to let this all sink in. This is great beyond belief. Enjoy the blog ;)