I Can't Believe I Won the Whole Thing!

It's early morning on my last day Sunday at CWSF 2010 and I am preparing for my bus ride back home to Hamilton and Dundas.  I've had a day to digest what has happened over the past 24 hours or so and have been composing it on my laptop before I finally post it to print.

Just like the saying of unbelievability, "I can't believe the I ate the whole thing", my feelings of disbelief still flow in my head that "I Can't Believe I Won the Whole Thing".  Well actually, it's not the real whole thing but at least the Junior Engineering side of things but it sure feels like the whole thing.  I guess I have something to shoot for in the future.  I honestly did not believe at the Awards Ceremony that I had a chance to win anything.  My Dad had told me before the trip that it was the experience that I should enjoy because it was really going to be difficult to expect to win any of the prizes.  Learning to present and to talk confidently to so many people of all ages was going to be my goal.  As the afternoon wore on, I was just hopeful that I may get an Honourable Mention Award.  After not hearing my name at that stage, I became disappointed but I held a brave face and resolved myself to enjoying the rest of the experience ... as my Dad had instructed me to. I saw the Bronze and then the Silver medalists climb the podium and I wished I was one of them.  Then I heard my name as the GOLD Medalist and I was in complete shock but I felt so happy.  I could not stop grinning.  It was so fantastic ... it must be what an Olympic Medalist must feel like especially when he did not expect to win.  WOW WHAT A FEELING!

THANK YOU ... THANK YOU .... THANK YOU ... THANK YOU ... THANK YOU ... THANK YOU

I want to thank my teacher Mrs. Meville-Cryer and my Prinicpal Mrs.Mary J Rossi back at my school, Canadian Martyrs Catholic Elementary for being so accommodating in my missed days of schools down the stretch of my preparations.  And also thanks to the Parent Council who gave me some money to help defray some of the costs of the preparations.  I want to thank my Uncle Morgan who helped me produce my backboard display ... it is so professionally and attractively done and I had so many compliments on my presentation.  I am sure I maxed how on my allowable points on this aspect of the judging.  I want to thank the BASEF organization for running their fairs that gave me the opportunity to gain the experience to succeed at CWSF.  Also my home school board who ran their fairs, this was my third HWCDSB Science Fair.  I want to thank the rest of my 2010 Team BASEF members, they have been so supportive and they made my week away from home so comfortable and enjoyable.  I also would like to thank the CWSF organization in Peterborough for putting on such a good show ... they did everything that made the experience exactly how my sister (in Truro 2007) and my brother (in Ottawa 2008) had described it.

Now I would like to thank the BASEF organization for keeping the standards high and giving chances for kids like me to go through such a wonderful experience.  Thank you to my chaperones Tom Crawford, George Gzecy and Jim Casey for looking after us and coaching us.  And oh yes, I cannot forget Roslynne ... she was and is my personal chaperone.  My Mom would have been proud of how she looked after me.  Thank you Roslynne!  I won't forget you and I hope to come back for more BASEF and CWSF fairs to see you again.

Lastly, I would like to thank my parents and family and although it hurts me to say this a little, I actually missed them being away and I am so glad also that I am going home.  My brothers and sister were always their to assist in explaining things that they knew but I did n't.  My Grammie and Grampie always show such interest in whatever I do ... I think they would be equally as pleased and excited had I won a pie making contest.  My Mom is the eternal optimist and keeps encouraging me that I'll get it when I really didn't.  My Dad on the other hand is the complete opposite.  He keeps telling me that I will only get it if I keep working on it.  I understand now know what it takes to achieve higher successes.  All those questions and explanations on the rides to school ... I get it.  All the new program introductions to do something that seem so small ... I get it.  All the reviewing of my project before bedtime when I really didn't want to ... I get it.  All the refusing of giving me a break when I wanted one ... I get it.  Thanks Dad for being a great coach.

And thanks to all of you who have been following me on this journey.  It's kind of neat being able to write about it as it goes.  Thanks to my Dad for introducing me to the concept of blogs.  I don't know if I will keep writing but we'll see ....

Day 6 - What a Day

Yesterday, for breakfast we had the same old sausages, pancakes, and eggs.  After breakfast we went to judging at 9am to present our projects to the special award judges.  It went on until 1pm and in that huge gap of time I had one judge, I know brutal.  However, this was because I hadn't signed up for any disciplinary awards which consisted of math, environment, and something else.  After a while my partner had told me that I could have signed up for the math award, which I could of done.  During the gap I had met someone who in my opinion was a genius.  I mean a genius, this 16 year old had graduated high school when he was only in gr 8, and at the moment he is in university.  This student started his research when he was 13, and now he is finished and has now proved that he has cured cancer.  This is not a lie.  he has cured breast cancer, prostate cancer and eye cancer.  His idea has been patented and he has tried this on 23 people.  It has been 8 months and all victims are feeling great.  He has turned cancer cells into healthy cells.  His books are amazing and so smart I cant even depict a word.  He even has his own lab and card, which he personally signed for me and many others.  Yes, this student is smarter than an Asian.  After meeting and talking about his project which I didn't even understand the whole time he was great at explaining.  Next we had lunch and we had sandwiches and the usual.  After, lunch we went back to the residence and had our cultural event.  For me, I had soapstone carving and I attempted to carve a anukshook or however you spell it.  It looks likes a rock with lines in random places but it looks beautiful in my opinion.  After our event we had dinner which consisted of food we had Canada's Got Talent.  There were some intense Asians I'd say, but there were mostly singers and tap dancers.  It continues through tonight with some of our own Bay Area finalists.  As for yesterday that how it went down.

Today, I had my full day adventure tour where I went to Algonquin park.  According to the guide Algonquin park is larger than PEI and consists of many species and lakes and rivers, etc...  My first tour was about a bog and how they are made and the landscape of different types of bogs.  It was actually quite interesting because I had a friend who I was able to talk to during the tour.  We then next had lunch at a camp where it was blistering hot.  Thankfully we had lots of water shade to shield us.  After lunch we headed out for yet another "exciting" tour.  It was about how workers had to get logs down the river in bitter cold water and cut the white pine.  It was a long and hot day but I had no complaints because some of it was actually interesting about  how workers lived and worked.  In all it was a fun day, and once again met new people from across Canada.

Day 5 - Sorry I'm Late

Sorry to all my million of fans (just kidding).  Actually my Dad, maybe my only fan emailed me and said that he missed by daily end of the day post.  Yesterday (Wednesday), Day 5 was Special Awards judging day followed by out Talent Show Night.  I got in late and I was just too tired to compose anything to report.  I'll try to do better today although it will be a busy days as well.

Day 4 - Judging day

Hey guys, today I had waffles, sausages, chocolate milk, egg mac muffins and eggs for breakfast.  In order to get to the gym where the projects are being held I had to wake up at around 5:30am to get ready have a shower have breakfast and still have time to practice my speech.  However, starting Wednesday I think we leave for the buses at around 7:30 a bit later. 


Judging today actually wasn't that bad.  I had practiced for about 2 hours the night before as well as looking over my booklet.  I was very confident, but at the same time I was very nervous of the judges.  But as it turns out they were very kind and understood my explanation and project.  In the morning at around 9:30 am I had my first judge who was hard to understand his speaking but I got used to it later.  Each interview was about 30 minutes long.  My next judge was very kind.  Both so far were men and dressed very nicely.  As for my second judge he was quite old but kind and funny.  He was very understandable and easy to deal with.  For my next judge he was from General Motors and asked hard questions that I was able to answer easily with a breeze.  By this time I was calmed down and ready for anything.  I was so happy because it was time for lunch.  

For lunch we had sandwiches, chips, juice, ice cream, and fruit.  After about an hour, we headed back to the gym to do some more judging.  I only had 4 more judges left, but each were split up into 2 pairs.  For my first pair they were both men as for all judges so far were, and they were very kind and liked the invention of the idea.  They seemed to be interested and like everything including the backboard especially.  My final pair of judges was mixed.  One of the judges-a women- was at the Dofasco fair with Shannon Clark and seemed to have learned more than last time.  The women looked more involved but the man was always commenting every now and then.  After my judging we went to back to our residences and got dressed to go to the zoo and look at some cool animals were we had burgers and hotdogs for dinner.  We then went to the zoo and park and played around. 

Day 3 - Another Ordinary Day

Today, I woke up at 5:30am had a shower and made my way to breakfast.  The breakfast today was okay with pancakes, hash browns, eggs, juice, fruits, and so much more.  After breakfast we had public viewing for 4 countless hours.  During this time I had once again gone and searched for more pins from across Canada.  Today, I received pins from Nunavut, New Brunswick, and Manitoba.  In addition, Australia, Thailand, and Mexico were in this science fair not to sure why but they were.  I got an Australian flag, and a Thailand pin.  In  my spear time, I went to my fellow finalists and discussed what had gone on during their presenting.

High school students were here today asking questions about out projects and discussed and shared about their past experiences of the science fair.  It went very well and I got a lot of people wondering about my project including,  other finalists, delegates, and secondary students.  It was very interesting discussing my project project but it went well.  After public viewing we went to lunch which I have forgot what we have had.  Next we were split into our groups to go to our presentations.  My first one was about Youth Science Canada and finalists from past science fairs discussed their projects and experiences they had across Canada and the world.  It was very interesting.  My next presentation was about the Arctic Boating that will be held in the summer.  It is a 2 week long trip where finalists investigate the Arctic ecosystems.  Unfortunately, it is only for grades 11 and 12.  Otherwise the presentations were full of interesting facts and fun.  And for dinner we had Chinese food and cake.  Well, that's all for today, hope you are all having as much fun as I am and going to be experiencing.  Good night all!

Day 2 - Setting Up Project on Sunday

Hey, once again.  Today we had bagels, yogurt, waffles, hash browns, and a lot of other stuff.  We then went to set up our projects where it took me over an hour.  It was packed there ... it was like a maze to get out of there with all of the projects this is why.  Also, because I had no where to set up, I tried once but I couldn't because too many people were getting annoyed.  Otherwise I had some generous help from George-one of the four chaperons, Andy and Calvin. 

After that we had lunch, in the gym where public viewing will be held tomorrow for somesecondary school students.  The lunch was good ... we had some sandwiches, juice, veggies, salad, fruit, and so much more.  Soon afterward, we had a presentation on what are the expectations and so on.  Next, we got our Ontario coats that are water proof and very comfortable.  Next, we went back to our residences and got cleaned up and went to dinner.  Our dinner was the opening banquet and we had tender chicken, lemon cake, veggies, lasagna, and pasta.  We were then told that we were to mingle with the other finalists from across the country by playing sports, games and other fun activities.  After a good 2 hours we left as well as with my now 14 pins that I have gathered from other people including, PEI, Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, Alberta, BC, NWT, and Nunavut. It is now 9:36 now and I am just hanging out with Andy and watching Transformers 2.  Hope you guys had an awesome day too.

Day 1 - Arriving at the CWSF in Peterborough on Saturday

Hey family, the ride up here was great, except for the part where I had dropped my drink on the chair and got me all wet ... otherwise it was good.  I sat across from Andy and talked for awhile after watching my movie and his.  When we got up here they were very hospitable.  They gave us a water bottle, a backpack and a CWSF shirt.  I also my got my key to the place-single rooms- where I have a desk, window-not a nice view- and some other nifty stuff.  I didn't eat a lot when I was coming up here, because I heard they have big dinners.  After a while, we went to the Hall which I have forgotten the name of and had spaghetti and cake for desert.  Meanwhile, after the dinner we went to some "chill out" places and watched T.V. and ate chips and juice.  After, I had unpack my stuff and got everything organized.  My room is great.  Well that's all for today, otherwise good night everyone! 

Posted on 10:30 pm Saturday

Leaving for CWSF in Peterborough

Today is Saturday May 15 and is my departure for the Canada Wide Science Fair to be held in Peterborough for all of next week. My BASEF Team of 16 members met the Niagara Team of 9 at the parking lot at Dofasco and we will be travelling together in a luxury Willis Bus.

My Dad and Mom dropped me off and I am all ready for the 3-4 hour drive ... prepared my own lunch and brother Will prepped me with several movies on my laptop.

My Chaperone is Roz Crawford and here she is smiling ... I hope she is still after a week with me.

This will be my personal BLOG but Team BASEF 2010 is also keeping a blog which you can follow as well. They are also updating a Flickr photo site to show what we are doing.

Team BASEF 2010 Blog: http://basef-at-cwsf-2010.blogspot.com

Team BASEF 2010 Flickr Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/team-basef/4610594550/in/photostream/

CWSF 2010 Photo site: http://www.cwsf.ca/

CWSF 2010 Info site: http://www.cwsf2010.ca/