A celebration of STEM: GVSU hosts two weekends of events for K-12 students

"I just love seeing kids being involved in science," Ryman said. "Seeing that a love for science is still alive, that people are still interested in it, and how Science Olympiad has grown is very intriguing and makes me very hopeful for the future."

Malaina Olivarez and Isabel Dillbeck, sophomores at Forest Hills Northern High School, each participated in three events spanning experimental design, machines, bungee drop, entomology, forensics, and rocks and minerals.

"Experimental design went really well," said Malaina. "We were moving along really smoothly and I felt like I understood everything." That event hinged on the participants' ability to design, conduct and report the findings of an experiment directly on-site.

This was not Malaina's first time on the team, but it was her first time attending the competition at Grand Valley. It was Isabel's fourth year competing.

"I've had to work with people whose names I barely even know," she said. "That has definitely made me better at working with people, even though I don't really know them well."

Malaina said she enjoys Science Olympiad because it allows students to explore subjects beyond the classroom. "It gives you a chance to learn a bunch of new subjects and you can learn and make mistakes without worrying about a grade," she said.

Both students said they plan to go into STEM fields.

"My events don't fully align with what I want to do in the future, because I want to go into pediatrics," Malaina said. "But it gives me skills that I could use, like working under pressure, or under tight timelines."