2014 Bio Olympiad Candidate Blurbs

2014 Biology Olympiad

Below are self-submitted summaries of the goals and accomplishments of this year’s candidates.

Compiled by Lucy Chu

Captain (2)

1. Peter Kim

You've seen me as a teaching coordinator lecturing most Fridays. I have the experience and skills

necessary to ensure that you guys will be the most prepared for doing well on all biology

competitions. Thanks!

2. Matthew Park

Hey everyone. My name's Matt Park, and I'm running to be your Captain of Biology Olympiad

for the next school year. Of course, extensive knowledge and capability is required to be an

officer for a club as rigorous as TJBO. But at the same time, I feel that the leadership and

initiative needed to be the Captain is what I possess that also sets me apart from the job of the

Teaching Coordinator. As your Teaching Coordinator the past school year, I've been able to

distinguish between the job of the Captain and the TC; it's shown me a new light, and has been

an example for me to follow.

Through my participation in the 2014 Intel ISEF, I've honed an ability to speak and communicate

clearly and effectively - a trait that an able Captain must have. My ability to communicate with

sponsors, corporate funding contributors, and other team leaders will strengthen TJBO as a club

and as a place where students can truly discuss to learn. That goes without saying. Also, as a

speaker for the 2014 Jefferson Overseas School Institute Conference (JOSTI), where educators

and scientists from all over the world come together to discuss the use of new technologies for

revolutionary purposes, I can demonstrate the organization, dexterity, and initiative expected of a

Captain for TJBO.

If you want a Captain you can go to for help in finding the right opportunities, a Captain whom

you can trust and seek advice, a Captain that will be at testing sites ahead of time having made

sure that they are ready to go.... a Captain that you know will reply with meaningful and timely

responses to your messages....

Vote for me, Vote for Matt as your new Captain for TJ Biology Olympiad.

(Continued)


3. Tiger Zhang

Qualifications:

TJ Bio Olympiad Webmaster 2013-2014

USABO Semifinalist 2013 and 2014

Top 10% of semifinalists in 2014

8th Place in 2014 Toronto Competition

Hi everyone,

It's Tiger, your current webmaster. In running for captain, I hope to further contribute to this club

by improving Biology Olympiad for everyone.

As an officer last year, I have valuable experience in administrative work. For example, I

managed the Toronto sign-ups and led many after-school meetings. I also faithfully maintained

our website, even posting a new Question of the Week every Sunday.

My goals as president are to increase the number of slots available for the USABO, and to

increase member engagement by offering more interactive presentations and problem sets for

people to work on. In addition, I am very nice and will work to address any concerns that you

may have.

In short, I believe my experience as Webmaster, combined with my passion for biology and

dedication to this club will allow me to successfully lead Biology Olympiad to new heights.

Please vote for me for your Biology Olympiad Captain. Thank you.


Teaching Coordinator (2)

1. Daniel Chae

Hi, I am Daniel Chae, a rising junior, and I want to be your next teaching coordinator.

I believe I am the most qualified for the position of teaching coordinator for a few reasons. I

have attended almost every meeting since my freshman year, and as a result of dedicating the

past two years for Biology Olympiad, I became one of the USABO semi-finalists.

The most important characteristic for teaching coordinators is the ability to teach. Since middle

school, I have been tutoring math and science, and, currently, I work part-time as a tutor for

various non-profit organizations. Additionally, I teach Falls Church elementary kids rudimentary

biology to further boost their academic success. With the plethora of teaching experiences I have,

I am confident that I can apply the skills to the club if elected for teaching coordinator.

If I become one of the teaching coordinators, I will work to revamp the teaching materials that go

far beyond Campbell in terms of depth and details because the USABO exams frequently cover

concepts that are not extensively covered in the textbook. I will try to bring new perspectives that

would enhance our understanding of the topics.

Thanks

2. Hongyi “Charlie” Guan

• I started tutoring my peers in middle school in math and science classes through National

Junior Honor Society

• I still continue to peer tutor every week through STEMbassadors, and therefore I have one of

the best qualification to become a Teaching Coordinator.

• I am truly passionate not only about tutoring and teaching but also the subject for biology itself.

With a stellar grade of 108% in AP Biology and being an International Biology Scholar in the

UToronto exam, I will do the best to not only teach but also have fun pursuing our interest in the

fascinating subject of biology.

• If I get elected I will bring food to all of my lectures like gummy bears (I brought them during

my guest lecture!).

(Continued)


3. Andrew Huang

Teaching is something I've always loved and something I've always been good at. This past year,

I trained a MathCounts Team that did very well, and a key member of that team was a boy

named Richard Wang. Richard, at the beginning, wasn't one of the top contenders. However, he

didn't make mistakes on problem he knew how to solve and loved math. After a few lectures, he

worked up to the final team and afterwards, told me how much my lectures helped him to

become the Mathlete he is today. I want there to be many more Richards next year, and as TC I

could help do that. Qualifications aren't the point of a TC; what makes a great TC is the ability to

teach, and time and time again when I subbed, parents would come up to me, telling me how I

was a supportive and effective teacher, teaching new ways to learn materials. I am an effective

teacher of biology, and almost daily I sit down with a friend and help them understand some of

the more rigorous concepts of the course. It would be an honor to serve as TC, and remember,

you can't go wrong with Andrew Huang!

4. Tai Kao-Sawa

USABO semifinalist

AP biology

AP chemistry

Biology Olympiad for the past two years

Goals:

To produce quality lectures and help increase USABO and Toronto scores

5. Chelsea Li

Top Freshman Score on USABO Open

Top Sophomore Score on USABO Semis

Top Three Scorer on USABO Semis at TJ

Top 150 on Toronto Freshman Year

8th place on Toronto Sophomore Year (Top 5 Score at TJ)

NIDA Internship 2013

Upcoming Harvard Internship 2014

Science Olympiad Medalist 2010-2014

Let's make Biology Olympiad a close-knit (yet competitive) group as we all strive to learn and

improve our knowledge!

(Continued)


6. Jeffrey Liu

Qualifications:

Experience: the only candidate for TC to have held an officer position this year

USABO Semifinalist for two years

Responsibility from being an officer

What's Different:

Openness: I try to be super approachable and I'm open to ideas and suggestions

Teaching: Most think of being TC as a job, and a way to set them up for captaincy. But I

think teaching biology helps us both learn from the experience and help us better prepare

for what is to come.

Dedication: Studied hard this year and has written a proposal to start a biology class at

Sunday school next year.

Goals:

More interactive lessons

Increase publicity: also publicist for TJBCMNetwork, I'll try to advertise better for next

year and increase interest

Increase club capacity and attendance

Thank you for your time and good luck to my competitors!

7. Stella Yang

2x Biology Olympiad Semifinalist (Freshman and Sophomore years)

Completed AP Bio

Taking Neurobiology and DNA Science next year

Interning at ASSIP on the metastasis of cancer cells this summer

Interned at an industrial biology lab last summer

If elected, I hope to change the way the club meetings are structured. Lectures would be focused

more on the problems in the competitions and less on basic content.


Treasurer (1)

1. Tarun Kamath

Regularly attended the Biology Olympiad meetings this year

Showed dedication by helping out in the fundraisers at the beginning of the year

Have shown interest since I guest lectured

Hope to be able to organize lots of fundraisers to help support the club

Hope to be able to sponsor some sort of J-Day booth next year

2. Kevin Livingstone

I'm the man.

Webmaster (1)

1. Neeraj Prasad

Qualifications as Club Member:

2014 University of Toronto : 5th Place Internationally

2014 Biology Olympiad Semifinalist

Qualifications for Webmaster:

Webmaster for the 2012 GMU Regional First Lego League Tournament using 1 & 1.

Responsible for maintaining a portion of a local non-profit organization’s website, using

Weebly

Used Webs.com for 2012 eCYBERMISSION project

Familiar with website building tools such as Weebly, 1&1, Google, and Webs

Taken an HTML summer course

Goals as Webmaster:

I will update and organize the site with the most current and up-to-date information

regularly, so all club members can easily access the latest and most important information

I will post questions of the week on varied subjects in the Campbell textbook in order to

test and sharpen knowledge and to improve test-taking skills, essential for success in

competitions.

I will post lectures and practice exams for review and for students not present for

meetings.

2014 Bio Olympiad Candidate Blurbs

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