The UHS Science Bowl Team aims to repeat its previous successes by winning this year’s regional competition. The Regional Science Bowl Competition, which takes place on Feb. 1, features teams from high schools across Southern California. The team that wins earns the opportunity to travel to Washington, D.C., for the national competition, where UHS placed third last year and second the year before.

Science Bowl is a fast-paced buzzer competition that challenges competitors across all branches of science, from biology to physics. Although 28 students are chosen for the UHS Science Bowl Team, only five are selected to represent the school to compete at the regional and national level. Many of these students view Science Bowl as unique from other traditional science competitions.

“[Science Bowl] is not about the knowledge that you have, but about how you can apply that knowledge in a quick manner,” sophomore Timothy Chen said. “It’s fun in its own way as it asks that you are able to understand the topics at hand at a deeper level.”

Although the majority of last year’s team members have graduated, captain Feodor Yevtushenko remains optimistic that this year’s team will have similar success. The UHS Science Bowl Team has been focusing on rigorous preparation for the upcoming invitationals, which serve as practice before the regional competition.

“Our team members are diligently practicing each week as well as studying their subjects outside of practice,” Yevtushenko said.

Many students competing in Science Bowl for the first time aspire to make a long-lasting impact on the team. While they strive to be a part of the group that competes on UHS’s behalf at regional and national competitions, much of their focus lies in learning from experienced upperclassmen to succeed at all levels. Sophomore Michael Jian hopes to one day contribute to the team that wins first place at the National Science Bowl Competition while using his Science Bowl experience as a foundation for making a positive impact.

“I aim to apply the scientific knowledge that I gain from Science Bowl to modern issues,” Jian said. “I also intend to pass down this knowledge to the next group of students who will take over and represent Uni at Science Bowl through tutoring at local middle schools.”