The experience of preparing for the KYPT competition in high school and working with my teammates to overcome challenges through research and experiments not only improved my research skills, but also made me realize the importance of collaboration. This experience will be very helpful in my future collaborative research as a doctor.
KYPT is a competition in which teams of five work together to conduct preliminary research on 14 physics topics, design experiments, create presentations, and discuss each topic in English with other teams at the competition. The competition is an important opportunity to teach high school students the joy of scientific research and the importance of collaboration, and many students participate each year. The competition is held in early February, and students who win gold at KYPT are invited to team up again to compete in the IYPT International Competition. The IYPT brings together the best students from around the world to compete for physics knowledge, which is an honorable challenge in itself.
In the second semester of my freshman year of high school, I was selected to participate in the KYPT as a team with two of my high school classmates and my older brother and sister, who were also attending the same high school. The team was created in September 20@@, but we were all too busy during the semester, so we started preparing for the competition in earnest during the winter break. Considering that the competition organizers would send out 14 problems in September, we started late compared to other teams, so we decided to take on two or three problems each to speed up our research.
However, this individual play turned out to be toxic. Thinking on our own narrowed our thinking and made it easier to give up. Fortunately, our team quickly realized the problem and worked together to solve it one problem at a time. This way, we were able to dig deeper into previous research, and many of us were able to perform the necessary experiments. It also helped us to think together about the opposing team’s counterarguments when we went to competitions later on, so that we could come up with the right rebuttals.
The most memorable topic was the third problem, titled “Car”. This problem was about increasing the efficiency of a car propelled by wind escaping from a balloon. There were a lot of factors to consider, and it was a lot of work, from building the car to experimenting with it. However, I was able to study and model the ejection of air molecules from thermodynamics and rocket motion from mechanics. For the experiments, we used a model on an air track, where we could better control the variables such as friction around the car, rather than building the car directly. It was also a difficult experiment because it used balloons, so we had to do water displacement to measure the volume of the balloons, measure the pressure of the balloons, and film the movement of the car model. However, with the help of five people, we were able to get enough data. It was a great sense of accomplishment for all of us as a team to see our multidisciplinary efforts come to fruition, and we learned the importance of teamwork, especially as we worked together to do our best in our respective roles.
Of course, there were other challenges besides research. I was unable to conduct the experiment because I attended the Korean Physics Olympiad Winter School for about a week in January. Also, my older brother and sister had to prepare for the entrance exam for the next semester, so they had a lot to prepare for, including the SAT, so they couldn’t participate in the experiment. With such a short preparation period, the team members were unable to continue their research, and progress stalled. In addition, when a science and engineering experience program for high school freshmen to go to the United States coincided with the competition period, our team members were in serious trouble. At that time, our research results were still far from complete, and we felt that it was better to go to the United States to learn a lot and make good memories with our friends than to fail to achieve good results in the competition. I was very upset when my friends, who are usually diligent and quiet about their work, wanted to give up the competition. I had never worked on a project in a team before in my life, so I didn’t know how to deal with this problem. Moreover, I felt even more sorry for my friends who were more committed to the team when they tried to quit. But in this situation, I convinced them with my heart. I realized that I hadn’t done anything for about two months, that I had wasted my time, and that I wouldn’t have a good relationship with my older siblings outside of the team. My sincerity was conveyed well, my teammates resolved the conflict and decided to work even harder for the next two weeks. Those two weeks were the hardest two weeks of my life. Even though we were on vacation, we asked the on-call teachers to do experiments in the school lab, and we gathered in cafes at night to make presentations and practice English until dawn. After all this hard work, our team won the silver medal in the competition. I still keep in touch with my older brother and sister who went to study in the United States.
The period of preparing for KYPT was physically demanding, but it also improved my research skills and made me realize the rewarding feeling of succeeding in something I am very passionate about in my life. Most importantly, I learned how to resolve disagreements among team members and realize the power of research as a team. In particular, working closely with my teammates was an important experience that will serve me well later in my university and social life. I am grateful that I had this experience as a high school student, and I think it will be very helpful in my future collaborative research as a doctor. The experience of seeing firsthand what amazing results can be achieved when collaboration, persistence, and passion come together will be invaluable in my future life.
The things I learned from this competition have had a huge impact on my growth in many ways, not just physics knowledge, but also problem-solving, creative thinking, and communication skills. I hope to continue to build on this experience in the future.
