#ProudViscans are overall champions in 1st Regional Chemistry Olympiad 2023

A team of three chemistry students composed of two seniors Marigold G. Lao and Nathan Kelsey B. Omandam, and a freshman Vic Andre G. Resmio from Visayas State University (VSU) bested the six participating teams and won first place in the recently concluded Chemistry Olympiad Quiz Bee 2023 under the tertiary level category.

This is the first-ever Chemistry Olympiad competition hosted by the Chemistry Society of Eastern Visayas State University (EVSU) as part of their celebration of the 2023 National Chemistry Week and the 116th Founding Anniversary of EVSU.

EVSU invited students both from the secondary and tertiary levels to participate in this year’s Chemistry Olympiad. A quiz show competition to test the students’ wits in the chemistry subject.

The six participating teams for the college category include Abuyog Community College, EVSU departments of Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Nutrition and Dietetics, and Environmental Science.

Lao, Omandam, and Resmio garnered a total score of 55 points of which they perfected the items in the easy and average rounds of the quiz show.

The VSU team revealed that they never had a formal review for the competition and only started to discuss and study possible topics and formulas while they were on their way to Tacloban for the competition that day.

Despite not having enough time for preparation, the training of the VSU Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry (DoPAC) according to Lao, Omandam, and Resmio is really their edge over the other contenders.

“Our department gave us difficult questions [in quizzes or examinations]. As early as freshmen years, we were already exposed to taking exams in the same manner as the board exam. We were trained to experience difficult questions so when we come face-to-face with similar questions in the future, it comes easy to us,” Omandam highlighted.

“We were already used to encountering difficult questions and shockingly, during the quiz show, it appeared to be easy on our part while the others found it difficult. In VSU, specifically in our department, we were trained to be critical thinkers. They gave us situational questions to test our wits, to test if you truly understand and not only memorize stuff,” Lao pointed out.

“As a first-year student, I’m glad that what I studied for the VSU finals was covered in the quiz show,” Resmio added.

Both Omandam and Lao commented that joining the Chem-Olympiad served as an avenue to assess their fundamental learning in chemistry. It was also good preparation for their licensure exam.

“It’s a great avenue to display our fundamental learnings in a time-constraint challenge, similar to that of a board exam. I think it’s preliminary training because in the exam we are just given around 10 seconds, 30 seconds for each item which is very similar to that of the board exam. You can’t go back to the previous items because of time constraints. That’s a nice experience. And it’s a great way for us to prepare for our board–which is our ultimate goal," Omandam said.

“It made us realize that we have understood the fundamentals taught to us two years ago and we never forgot them. It just so happened that the Olympiad is a refresher for our learning experience and training that we can apply in the future,” Lao concluded.

The team was accompanied by Mr. Yssakhar A. Salas and Mr. Mark Ryan R. Tripole, their coaches who have always believed in their powerful team.

The Chem-Olympiad took place in EVSU's Graduate School Function Hall on February 15, 2023. EVSU Civil Engineering won the 2nd place, while EVSU Chemical Engineering took the 3rd spot, respectively.

Meanwhile, VSU Chemical Society will be celebrating the one-week Chemistry Week 2023 that will run from February 20 to 24 with different activities such as CHEMtalk and contests highlighting the national theme: “Careers in Chemistry: Careers in the Central Science.”

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