I’ve recently involved myself with this spelling-bee-esque competition, except it’s related to neuroscience trivia – it’s called the brain bee and is tied to an official org (IYNA). At the state competition today, I was awarded first so I can advance to the US national brain bee in April.
But… the problem is that you can only attend the US national brain bee once, so how I perform there will be official and I can’t participate again. This is my first time participating in the local competition (I was also the youngest competitor), so I don’t think I have the capabilities to do my best at nats because I simply don’t have that kind of years-long experience in neuro.
btw I’m in 8th Grade and the comp is traditionally for 9th-12th, so even if I do go, it’s not like I’d be able to list it as a high school achievement. The downside to waiting would obviously be the risk that I might not qualify for nats as a freshman, but if I do, I’ll be well-prepared for the national tourney.
Could I get a second opinion on this situation? Thanks so much
Only you can decide, but if it were me, I would wait until I was older and had the chance to learn more, so I would do better. It’s great you qualified, though!
If this is a new competition, it will become more competitive as it becomes more well known. Also, competirions from summer before 9th count as high school.
She said the national bee is in April and she is in 8th grade, so it wouldn’t be reportable.
Also, the bee has been around for 25 years. It’s only new to her area.
Congratulations! It sounds like a huge accomplishment to have won at the state level! There is always a chance that you won’t do as well ever again, but if you enjoy it and it’s important to you to do well nationally, skipping nationals this year sounds reasonable given that you will have 4 more chances.
I’m allowed to win again at the state comp, but I only get one chance at going to nationals. I also think going right now might open up some opportunities for me – like the organizers of the local bee said that I could help with their weekly brain bee tutoring sessions.
I feel like I want to go for the experience; winning isn’t always the end goal. I hope to study for nats and try my best, but I know HS seniors will be competing and that there’s a chance that I might not do well simply because I’m too young.
Thankfully, for everyone attending the USA brain bee, it’s the same thing: it’s their first time at nats, and their last, so hopefully I’ll have a fair chance if I choose to attend.
Yeah, if there are follow on opportunities that could be good and then you could work it into college apps by saying something like, “As a former national competitor (2023), I help mentor high school students on topics such as X,Y,Z to deepen their subject knowledge and enhance their competitive success” or something along those lines.
