Some Pre-IBO Thoughts

I think it's a good opportunity to reflect a bit on the whole Biology Olympiad 'journey' so far.

On the plane to Melbourne, not a clue in mind what was going to happen or what I would find

Thinking back to last year, I still remember the entrance exam.
Heck, I remember hearing about the Olympiads, turning up to the meeting, being overwhelmed, and then promptly pushing it to the back of my mind.

And then there were issues with handing in the note, etc., etc., but those aren't the important things.

Those 3 weeks of cramming for the NQE were very, very intense. I can assure you that.

And to walk out of the exam centre and think to myself "Holy smokes I could have done /so/ much better in that exam..." and then being in an entire slump for the next month because I thought I blew my one and only shot.

In hindsight, thinking back on those moments, it feels so surreal. Who. Would. Have. Known.

I got the phonecall, I remember, when I was in Parramatta Library. I don't even remember who it was that called me, but it was one of the organisers and I practically squealed in the library.

Fast forward a bit, and I remember the week leading up to the camp. Trying to cram everything and go through all the resources that the organisers had linked me to in preparation for the summer camp (believe me, I didn't even get through half)

I was so unbuhlievable terrified of going. For several moments, I actually /did not want to go/

Yet, time doesn't wait for anyone! In a flash I was sitting at Monash University's lawn.

First day, first lunch, first gathering

And once again, in hindsight, how surreal does that moment feel? It was only 6 months ago though.

Once I got to the camp I forgot about a lot of things. I was just there to have fun. Meet heaps of people, enjoy myself, and laugh. Enjoy the moment, because I had no faith in actually getting selected for the team.

Wading

The people there were so, so, incredibly smart and talented in /so/ many different ways. It was amazing and I just felt a teensy bit overwhemled by the sheer body of people there. It was just incredible and despite feeling overshadowed, I was immensely in awe and just glad to even be there in the first place.

The things we did, oh how they were exciting.

It was more of a learning experience for me. I was there to enjoy the ride. I'd gotten that far, and I always registered that was as far as I was going to get. 

HAH let's get to the exciting part of the exams.

Some practice morning tests (I did terrible in these too)

That's right, 43%. Below the average of the 23 of us there. Yeah... that's when I figured that this was going to be difficult.

These exams were the biggest kick in the ego I've ever faced. I am not exaggerating. They literally made me feel like I didn't deserve to be there at the camp. I mean, to get below 50% in a theory exam (TWICE) in a subject that I absolutely loved is pretty demoralising.

You could /actually/ smell the taste of defeat in the air when we all received our results back.

It was that day that I gave up on even trying for the Biology Olympiad. Immediately stopped studying on camp and just played table tennis and pool every. single. night for the rest of the camp.

((Ironically enough, of the 5 offered spots on the team, 4/5 of us spent over nearly all nights on the ABO camp playing table tennis., etc., rather than studying. Thinking back, I think there was one moment where all four of us were playing together.))

Yeah that's me during a lecture.

I'm not going to hide the fact that I fell asleep for like the entirety of the immunology lecture (which I soulfully regret. I had to go back and read the entire textbook chapter to catch up. Would not recommend). I also struggled a lot to understand what the lectures were about and it was quite mentally stressing.

In hindsight, reading back, it's all not /that/ bad. Of course, I've accumulated enough study to basically have read the textbook like twice by now, so of course it seems easier in retrospect. But at the time, I really struggled. 

Anyway, this post is getting long so let's skip forward.

Leaving ABO camp was sad. I figured it would be the last big /experience/ in this whole Olympiad thing that I would experience. I wasn't even sure if I was going to even try for the final selection exam (FSE). It was a bittersweet goodbye, to say the least. Half of these people I'd never see again.

Get back and skip a couple of months, and find myself in the face of the FSE.

I. Have. Never. Crammed. So. Hard. In. My. Life.

I say that /literally/. Those three days before the FSE were the most crazy in my life. Pouring over my Campbell textbook, rushing through the handouts, really, really pushing myself to cover everything by the deadline. 

In retrospect, my studying for the IBO now is nothing compared to then. I don't even understand how I even did it? How did I do it? It was like some superhuman motivation for studying that I've never been able to harness ever since that time. If only I studied that hard all the time for all my assessments.

Those few days of studying really pushed me to my limit. If you gave me a second opportunity I don't think I'd be able to replicate those few days. It was the hardest I've worked in my life, or at least, that I can remember, and in retrospect I like to conclude that the effort was worth it(? I hope)

I'm not sure why I was able to do it without burning out. I think I had a small, inking of a desire to maybe possibly perhaps get into the IBO team? A friend and I, JH, ended up being good partners in that we bounced off each other and motivated the other to study and try hard for the FSE.

We were so pumped, and he was probably the closest friend I made from the camp (though, we only really became friends after the camp when I realised he was like the amazing cool brother I never had). 

He was so incredibly determined to get into the IBO that it rubbed onto me and I perhaps considered the possibility of trying.

It's funny how we said, initially, that we'd study every day and so by FSE we'd be prepared. (Hint: We didn't. We both ended up cramming like we've never crammed before)

Walked out of that final exam not expecting anything to come from it, but I couldn't stop that little bit of hope grasping onto the slither of possibility.

A month later. 

Results were coming back. Some complications happened with my phone so that I had no signal, and thus did not receive a phone call.

So, to say the least, I was a tad bit disappointed. I wasn't excessively, y'know, upset; I had worked myself up to be ready for defeat -- if I didn't get in then that's okay because I had no expectation to, y'know? 

But that little puff of hope was gone and I recovered quickly with just curiosity into who from the camp got in.

I'm not going to dwell too much on the moment my father told me (in the car) the news. I'll just say I was beside myself. If you drove past our car you'd think I was insane.

And somehow, in a matter of coincidence and chance, my friend JH got in too, and I just. I couldn't believe all of this was happening.

And now we're here. Finally. So many months down the track.

Those weeks of preparation before the NQE. Those weeks of panic before the ABO summer camp. Those days leading up to the FSE. Those months and months of hard work.

It still is weird to think that this is the last step. I still haven't quite registered or accepted it.

The memories of how it all began are still fresh in my mind, yet here I am, going to the /actual/ IBO in a couple of days? Am I ready? How is this real? All this work has lead up to this? Is this the end?

The next 2 weeks will perhaps be the biggest in my entire life. The highlight of my entire 17 years of existence, I suppose? Will the /journey/ end after this? All this work leading up to this one moment, which is finally here.

On camp we were discussing whether this IBO would be the highlight of our /entire lives/. The instructor said we were insane. 

'This is not the highlight. This is just the beginning. You have so much ahead of you.'

Well I don't know if I believe that's true, but I know that I could never have expected this to happen and I still don't understand how, why, and in what ways I'm standing here in this situation.

First day of camp.

All I know is that it started off many months ago, and it proves to show you never know what's going to happen.
All you can do is give it your best shot.
And that the journey only ends when you will it to.

/end

P.S., hopefully an update before I fly

Importing old blog

P.S., in the process of slowly importing posts from my old photography blog, because I figured out how to.

That is all.

They will be tagged as 'old post'

Blaze it

Update ahoy;;

Went down to Canberra for 2 days for some a blazer ceremony hurrah.

Yup, fly all of us down to Canberra just for this.

But hey, I'm not complaining. Any free travel for me is always welcome /hint hint/

By 'all of us' I mean the Australian teams for the Science, Informatics and Mathmatics Olympiads.

Anyway, arrived and shown my room.

The place was quite nice, actually.

I received an entire room, meaning I got four beds to myself, a kitchen, a bathroom, air-con, and a TV.
Quite literally, gender barriers.

Thank god it had warm air-con. Canberra was as cold as the Wombat XL Space Simulator (see below)

Also received polos and a tie (the tie is longer than I am...)

Exciting stuff: this year, the ceremony coincided with the opening celebration of the AMO's new website (!!!!!!) so we were all invited to the official ceremony and got a nice little goodie bag.

AMT pencil case? Hell yeah. ((I don't even do Olympiad mathematics.))
Totes bringing it to every school math exam just to intimidate.

 Anyway, the day was rather normal.

Just played cards and settled in. Was missing home quite a bit, and wanted to just go back and study (I live a sad life)

The next morning, waking up at 7 was tiresome. Thankfully I set 2 alarms because my watch didn't go off (LOL. OF ALL THE TIMES.)

I didn't sleep too bad, since the air-con was set to 27 degrees and was keeping me warm.
The next morning was freezing, though. I can tell you for sure that trudging through 7 o'clock weather in a short skirt is very, very difficult to get through.
(pretty sure it was single-digit temperatures)

But, I made it out alive. Barely.

So, we all hopped onto a bus and headed off to the ANU for the official ceremony.

What was strangely thrilling about the entire experience was being in the same room with so many other individuals who were just as passionate about science (and maths and informatics) as me. It felt straaaange.

We were sitting at a table for lunch later on and there were New Scientist magazines strewn across the table. One of us grabs them and we all end up huddling together reading it and trying to solve the math problem at the back.
Then we all just discussed and shared our stories of having an entire stack of New Scientist magazines at home that we've yet to read (I'm surprisingly quite up-to-date compare to the rest of them: Up to May issues).

It's just interesting to be with these people that are so passionate about a particular subject, and so willing to learn and question the world around them in a manner that I resonate with. And yet, at the same time, they also procrastinate (just like me), which makes me feel good.
They pull all-nighters, they leave homework till last, they watch TV and waste countless hours on YouTube, etc., yet they also read New Scientist and read up interesting articles on Science. And (some of them) have a sense of humour, too.

It's just interesting. Not to say that they are the only people I've met who are like this (believe me, I'm friends with people who are just like this, and just as academically talented and driven), it was just refreshing to see so many of them together in a room -- people I'd hardly even gotten to know (DON'T EVEN KNOW THEIR NAMES), yet able to talk to freely about these things.

Also got to meet a couple of very big people, e.g., Adam Spencer (who I now greatly admire), who was a really great person.

Refreshments were nice, and spent a lot of time taking photos with the teams, etc.

Interesting, these muffins were savory.

 Finally it was time to leave Parliament House (where the ceremony was held)

I think I finally understand why the rest of Canberra isn't very /fabulous/ looking: it's to make Parliament House stand out more.

 Then we headed off to Mt Stromlo Observatory, which was really cool (even though I know next to zilch about astrophysics), and we got to see a lot of interesting equipment.

Also they grabbed us for a quick photoshoot for the Canberra Times.

Heading off to the observatory.

The five of us that were photographed got an early visit to the Wombat XL Space Simulation Facility, which was very nice. Got to see the inside of it, too, and one of the workers there talked to us about it. It was pretty interesting, and I learnt a lot (even though I unfortunately didn't understand half of it.)

The five of us spent a lot of time speculating about why it was called the 'Wombat XL'.
And whether they had a souvenir store that sold 'Wombat XXS's or the like.  ("Get your very own Wombat XXS to use around the home, and simulate temperatures down to 10K!")

Slightly bad lighting in the room, so apologies. It was fantastic, though!

Also what I found was particularly cool was the anechoic chamber! Yes, I was very enthusiastic.

IT WAS SO COOL. Not going to lie.
We were allowed to enter it, and we all went up and put one of our ears next to the cones. It was a surreal experience; felt like you went deaf in one ear.

 Walked around a bit more and we were all shown the other cool equipment and rooms at the Observatory.

I thought the 'Clean Room' was a pretty cute place.

This is a picture of the Clean Room, taken from outside a glass screen.
It's so clean in there that there's supposedly not a single speck of dust; entering this room requires a full bunny-suit protection, and they use special grade-10 paper to prevent fibres from being shed into the air.
Quote friend: "Hmm. Looks pretty clean to me. NO WAIT I THINK I SEE A SPECK OF DUST"

 Afterwards, it was finally time to head off and go to the airport.

Returning to the bus.

 Ended up driving home, so endured a long 3 hour car trip.

Very nice meadow :'D

Also my parents bought me a bouquet of flowers, which was very sweet of them (though I insist that they shouldn't have)

Cake || more food photography

I'm not a /massive/ fan of cake, but this one was pretty damn good.

The cheesecake one (which I unfortunately didn't get a chance to take photos of) was absolutely mouth-watering oh my god. I love cheesecake. It's the only cake that I will happily eat many slices of (ice-cream cake is pretty good, too, but that's not really 'cake')

Anyway. Since nothing super duper exciting has been happening in my life recently, you can just enjoy these foodie posts.

P.S., food photography has been growing onto me recently.

Macarons (Yet again)

With a full push of exams and hard work coming up in the next few months (oh god), I figured I might as well give it one last shot making macarons.

To be completely honest, they weren't really /fantastic/ LOL (far from it, in fact), but I learned a lot and had a lot of fun with my cousin.

Also, had a shot at using chocolate to decorate, and marshmallows as the filling, so this round of macarons was really just a bunch of fun experimentation.

Eh, well, even if they don't look fantastic, they're still edible and made from cold sweat and tears, so it's the thought that counts.

May or may not be able to update much in the next few weeks...

Definitely will soon though, but no guarantees just yet.

Going to Canberra next week (woo!) and I think I'll be visiting a couple of exciting places! Then ~4 weeks and I'll be heading off overseas for a couple of weeks, so that'll bring heaps of photo opportunities, I'm sure.

Here's to the future.

Street Photography (Photography Gush #1)

"Photographs that stir us emotionally, that make us think about humanity, society around us, the people we interact on a daily basis, the small beauties of life that we pass up for granted, others who are suffering, and the hopes and dreams of everyday individuals."

Just gonna write a bit about street photography because been reading about it recently, and it's one of my favourite forms of photography.

From Vivid Sydney, 2013.

First, a little background knowledge:

"Street photography is an art photography that features the human condition within public places and does not necessitate the presence of a street or even the urban environment. The subject of the photograph might be absent of people and can be object or environment where the image projects a decidedly human character in facsimile or aesthetic."

"The origin of the term 'Street' refers to a time rather than a place, a time when women achieved greater freedom, when workers were rewarded with leisure time and when society left the privacy of their sitting rooms, people engaged with each other and their surroundings more publicly and therein the opportunity for the photographer."

Aquarium, 2014.

Hyde Park, 2014.

There's something I really enjoy about capturing the moment. Taking a photo of the very nature of humanity, and the way that we all are.

A lot of the time, we're presented with images that are planned. And not that I have a problem with that (I really like photoshoots and portraits, too! Definitely another favourite of mine) -- it's just that sometimes it's refreshing to have photos that really encapsulate the natural order of things.

How people are, and their environment. I.e., human condition.

Darling Harbour, 2014.

 "Framing and timing are key aspects of the craft, with the aim of creating images at a decisive or poignant moment."

Christmas, 2013. Suburban streets.

It's also a really challenging photography type, I find.

You really only get one shot, and you've got to deal with framing, composition, focus, contrast, and on top of that the usual things (aperture, shutter speed, ISO). 

“There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera. That is the moment the photographer is creative. Oop! The Moment! Once you miss it, it is gone forever.”

- Henri Cartier-Bresson

You've got to just jump into the environment yourself and really put yourself out there, and it's a nice challenge. I don't think I'm great at it, but I think it's a good thing to put yourself in situations that you're not familiar with. That way you get to immerse yourself into the public space around you and really experience it, even if you're experiencing it through a camera viewfinder.

Vivid Sydney, 2013.

One of my favourite parts of street photography is noticing the delicate things around you.

Often when I'm in the city, or walking around, I don't focus on the small details. People around me are just faceless individuals, but when I'm taking street photography I feel like I really pay attention to others and start to see a bit of their own stories.

“To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place… I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.”

– Elliott Erwitt

2013, city.

You see the wonder, expressions, actions and faces of the people around you, and even if you don't ever see them again or know their name, you part ways with a bit of familiarity with them, and I think that's nice.

"Street photographers create fine art photography (including street portraits) by capturing people in public places, often with a focus on emotions displayed by people in public, as in public display of affection between lovers or a parent caring for his or her children, thereby also recording people's history from an emotional point of view."

And you're reminded that the world is filled with a lot of different people. Each who do their own things, have their own attitudes, families, friends, perspectives, etc.

2013, city.

Aquarium, 2014.

Really trying to relay the entire atmosphere of the 'natural moment' is something that I personally think is really nice. It takes you back to that very moment.

I think a really important component of street photography is getting into the atmosphere yourself. The photographer isn't isolated from the subject or the environment -- they are a part of it, and they are capturing that moment. That says something.

“If your photos aren’t good enough, then you’re not close enough”

- Robert Capa

City, 2014.

Vivid, 2013.

I suppose the photos just seem so natural and easy to imagine -- the people seem so familiar to us, because the entire purpose is to capture humanity in its own human condition.

“I love the people I photograph. I mean, they’re my friends. I’ve never met most of them or I don’t know them at all, yet through my images I live with them.”

– Bruce Gilden

Hyde Park, 2013.

I also read a bit about legal issues LOL

"Several legal cases in the United States and other countries have established that taking, publishing and selling street photography (including street portraits) is legal without any need for the consent of those whose image appears in the photos, because photography is protected as free speech and artistic expression by the First Amendment in the US and the Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights in the European Union.^" 

"While individuals may complain of privacy or civil inattention violations when they become the subject of candid photography, the work of photographers cannot be done in any other way and if candid photography were restricted then society and the future generations would lose works of art, educational images, newsworthy images, and images of people's history." 

Hyde Park, 2013.

At the end of the day, street photography is one of the things I really enjoy doing.

It let's you be creative, let's you capture humanity and the world, and let's you take in the surroundings.

Vivid, 2013.

“Seeing is not enough; you have to feel what you photograph” 

– Andre Kertesz

And that's the end of my gush about street photography.

Side note: I think I've basically, officially, ditched my other photography blog. I think it's just better to post everything here.

Perhaps will have another photography gush one day in the future. Perhaps about portrait photography, or the logistics of my view on various other perspectives, but no guarantees.

I'm sorry if this post was painful, but I really wanted to write all of this down somewhere, and this is my blog, not yours.

don't tell me how to run my blog.

HAHAHA

Enjoy your long weekend, everyone! (͡◎ u ͡◎)

Vivid Sydney

Been a while since I've updated, but as promised, the minute my exams were over I legged it to the city.

Vivid Sydney, 2014!

This year's the third year that I've been, and I still enjoyed it as much as before. Each year they bring out a new theme and new atmosphere, and the change up in attractions and interactive displays is so fantastic.

But, before I get into that, first some photos from pool (that we played for a couple of hours while waiting for the lights to turn on at 6pm)

Great break

What I love particularly about my photography hobby is street photography. It's probably one of my favourite types of photography (if not the most) and although I wouldn't exactly say I'm great at it (because I'm not), I have to say that I enjoy it and the concept of it.

As much as it is difficult to take good night street photography (shutter speed and ISO can be really, really fiddly), it's a really fun challenge and just trying to balance all of those things (not even going to mention focusing...)

Friend SQ strutting the city streets

And there's a bit of a obstacle to overcome with even having the guts to take a photo of strangers.

I.e., trying to not look intimidating and being able to point your camera at someone you don't know, and then taking a photo.
I suppose not a lot of people understand the concept of /street photography/ because it is quite an obscure form. Generally, you take photos of people you know, or yourself -- not of strangers on the streets.

Especially kids; they're so adorable to take photos of, but there are obviously concerns with parents being all 'wtf'

 But none-the-less, vivid was an amazing night.

The lights and the sounds and effects, and all the small little displays erected across Sydney :')

Made the stupid mistake of looking directly into one of these lights (don't do it.)

Had a little trouble with lighting sometimes, and trying to manage auto-focus, too.

I know this picture is blurry but I thought the composition was nice :(

 I suppose it's just the idea that street photography can capture such an atmosphere.

It seems so natural and candid, yet there's something particularly fun about trying to compose a shot in a split second, and also deal with shutter speed, aperture, ISO, etc., etc., and a good focused shot without alerting the police into thinking you're a creepy stalker or w/e

Of course, taking photos of friends is also just as great.

Friend JK also brought along his DSLR, so I didn't feel as out of place :P

I have an odd tendency to enjoy taking photos like this. I've taken at least one of these shots every single year at Vivid, and this year wasn't an exception.

 Also, I suppose in a way, street photography tells a story. Just as any other photo can.

There were quite a lot of people at Vivid when I went, which was unfortunate. Even though I stayed till past 10pm, there were still crowds of people everywhere, which made it difficult to take photos and to even stick together with my group of friends.

In an ideal world, I would have gone on Monday-Thursday, because I've heard that after 9PM there's a lot, lot less people. But unfortunately, my exams only finished on the Friday, and so I didn't get to have that luxury.

I'm sure the long weekend would have had even more people, so I suppose the best shot was to go on Friday. Next year though -- for sure I'll do my best to go between Mon-Thurs, and since I'll be an official 'adult', then I'll be able to stay later or w/e. (Even though I stayed pretty late this time, too)

Also have a tendency to take back shots. Mainly because I don't have the guts to take face ones.

Greatest fear: people turning and catching me taking a photo of them.

Ooh, I really enjoyed this display (below)
It was definitely one of my favourites because it seemed so enjoyable.

Also, another perk was that it was bright, so it was easier to take photos lol

Ngaw. What a cute little tiny human.

Accidentally took this photo, and although it's blurry and not in focus, I thought the effect was cool so I'll post it here

Although there were a couple of exhibits that I did miss (just too many people, not enough time, and obviously my friends don't always want to go where I want to go), the entire day was a great time and I enjoyed it to no end.

Although we spent ages looking for a food place (it was so crowded, too -- no places had enough vacant seats for all 10+ of us to sit down together), debating whether we ought to go to a restaurant or fast food or this or that, the night turned out great, and some of the memories of that night will stay with me for a long time to come.

Also, can't believe that we were all sober the entire time because some of these guys were so crazy that I would have questioned whether they consumed alcohol or not. (they didn't, but it seemed like they did because they were THAT insane.)

#vividsydney

Great night. Already excited for next year's.

P.S., in case you wanted to watch the entire projection show on the Opera House this year, I found this handy link (not my own recording)