User:Giantpants
| Giantpants | |
|---|---|
| General Information | |
| Years in SO | 7 |
| Past Team(s) | Kellenberg Memorial High School, Brother Joseph C. Fox Latin School |
| State | NY/PA |
| Division | D |
| Scioly.org Information | |
| Forum profile | Giantpants |
| Medals | |
| Total medals | 101
|
| Competitor Info | |
| Competitions attended | 44
|
| Events competed in | 199 |
| Volunteering | |
| Years volunteered | 2 |
| Number of competitions | 17 |
| Number of tests written | 14 |
| Social Media | |
| @aidan__york | |
| Discord | Giantpants#6460 |
Giantpants (me) is a junior at Haverford College in Haverford, PA, and former competitor for Kellenberg Memorial High School, in Uniondale, NY, where he competed for three years (2018-2020). I was President of the club for the 2020 season, as well as a Co-Vice President for the 2019 season. I also formerly competed for The Brother Joseph C. Fox Latin School for four years (2014-2017), spending two of those years as co-captain (2016) and captain (2017).
I go by Aidan in most settings, so feel free to talk to me if you ever see me around! I'd be honored to meet you. I also write tests! This season I'm doing mainly Sounds of Music and Rocks and Minerals, but my all time favorite event to write is Geologic Mapping.
 | Giantpants attended Kellenberg Memorial High School. |
| DMAH | Giantpants attended Dank Memes Area Homeschool. |
History
2014 Season
Giantpants joined the Science Olympiad as a sixth-grader, making the Bro. Fox B team. However, this was basically by accident, as my brother was on the Kellenberg team at the time. I did decent at regionals, then went to states and did... less decent.
The 2014 season almost feels like a dream to me. It was vastly different than any other year, (regionals and states were in unique places, my events were wild, different people, etc.) but it was a crucial start to my season, and I'm very lucky I made the state team, otherwise who knows what would've happened?
2015 Season
Giantpants returned in seventh grade, where he was on Bro. Fox's main team. This year, similar to 2014, I prepared well enough to achieve decent results at regionals, yet not enough to do well at states.
The 2015 season feels dream-like too, but I remember more stuff from it, and it also still wasn't too long ago that I can actually remember it. It was a good time, and honestly, maybe it was not doing too great at states that inspired me to start working hard in 2016.
2016 Season
In eighth grade, Giantpants finally committed to Science Olympiad, attending Division C invitationals with the Kellenberg team. This allowed me to compete at high level competitions, including MIT and Yale. I also additionally began doing events I actually enjoyed, such as Wind Power, Reach for the Stars, and Dynamic Planet.
2015 was a rough year for the Latin School, so we thought 2016 was going to be more of a rebuilding year, but we surprised everyone, including ourselves! At Blue Dragon, I medaled in all five events, a trend which I continued at regionals that year. Additionally, I helped the team to its only regional championship, which was epic. I did alright at States, but more importantly, this was honestly the real start of my Science Olympiad career, when I had finally found something I could be decent at and really enjoy doing at the same time. Hooray!
2017 Season
After losing a large chunk of the 2016 team, Giantpants became the Brother Fox team captain as a freshman, picking up extra events which had been left behind, such as Rocks and Minerals and Road Scholar. I led the team to good performances at Blue Dragon and Regionals, as well as the best state finish that the Latin School has had since 2008. Other significant moments in 2017 include the lowest regional point total that the Latin School had earned since 2008, as well as a state championship in Dynamic Planet. It was probably my best season, results and experience wise.
I maintain, to this day, that Division B States 2017 is definitely a high point in my life as a leader, a competitor, and a person. What a time to be alive, right?
2018 Season
In his first division C year, Giantpants, now a sophomore, made the Kellenberg team, and retained many of his events from 2017, doing Dynamic Planet, Astronomy, Remote Sensing, and Optics. I performed relatively well all year, notably medaling in Dynamic Planet at every competition, and medaling/near medaling in Astronomy and Remote Sensing at each competition, up until states. Eek.
2019 Season
In 2019, Giantpants competed in Dynamic Planet, Astronomy, Sounds of Music, Geologic Mapping, and regrettably, Mousetrap Vehicle. I guess I did slightly worse as a junior than as a sophomore, but I still usually did pretty well. However, my state results were again less than satisfactory, save for a lucky medal in Geologic Mapping. How unfortunate. Oh, and Science Quiz Bowl memes lol. Good times.
It may not have been my most incredible season ever performance-wise, but the 2019 season was a really fun time of growth and friendship making for me, and a time I’ll always look back upon with fondness and nostalgia. Oh, and it’s also when I made my scioly.org account, and I began to become more immersed in the greater SO world! Yay.
2020 Season
Becoming President of the team and continuing with four of his previous five events, Giantpants was able to achieve his peak Science Olympiad performance as a senior. Beginning with an unexpectedly strong team performance at Cornell, it was clear this team was something special. Strong performance after strong performance, individually and team, made 2020 a peak season for Kellenberg.
Although we were unable to attend states due to the extremely unfortunate timing of the virus, an abrupt, unexpected, and unwelcome end to my career as a competitor, 2020 was still a top tier year for Kellenberg. Our accomplishments ranged from consistent trophies at invitationals to wins over teams which beat us easily the year prior. Notably, we achieved the lowest point total for any team in Nassau West history with all 23 events being counted! While we may not have had our chance to reach my ultimate goal of bringing Kellenberg back to the top 6 of New York State, a ranking it has not held since 2011, I do truly believe that, if not for extenuating circumstances, we would have reached our goal, and maybe even higher! 2020 was undoubtedly the most successful year in history for Kellenberg Memorial High School, and I am proud to have led and been a part of the team during this time of exceptional success.
Also, this was the year where I actually became friends with people in the SO community. Meeting legends from all over the northeast and the country made the season much more enjoyable and fun! Some of them are still some of my best friends today.
Full Results
2016
| Event | Blue Dragon | Regionals | States |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crave the Wave | 10th | 2nd | 6th |
| Dynamic Planet | 6th | 1st | 11th |
| Optics | 2nd | 3rd | - |
| Reach for the Stars | 7th | 5th | 8th |
| Wind Power | 4th | 2nd | 2nd |
2017
| Event | Wright State | Blue Dragon | Regionals | States |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dynamic Planet | 35th | 4th | 1st | 1st |
| Reach for the Stars | - | 8th | 3rd | 6th |
| Road Scholar | 26th | 6th | 4th | 10th |
| Rocks and Minerals | 7th | 3rd | 2nd | 5th |
| Wind Power | 11th | 1st | 1st | 5th |
2018
| Event | LISO | Columbia | Northmont | Yale | Regionals | Tiger | Cornell | States |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Astronomy | 18th | 4th | 5th | 6th | 3rd | 1st | 7th | 29th |
| Dynamic Planet | 5th | 6th | 3rd | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 5th | 20th |
| Optics | 18th | 5th | 4th | 17th | 10th | 8th | 15th | 15th |
| Remote Sensing | 10th | 3rd | - | 7th | 1st | 2nd | 6th | 31st |
2019
| Event | LISO | Columbia | Centerville | Yale | Regionals | Tiger | Cornell | States |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Astronomy | 5th | 11th | 16th | 4th | 3rd | 2nd | 19th | 22nd |
| Dynamic Planet | 22nd | 2nd | 6th | 11th | 1st | 2nd | 12th | 19th |
| Geologic Mapping | 25th | 4th | 14th | 12th | 3rd | 2nd | 9th | 6th |
| Mousetrap Vehicle | 18th | 11th | 24th | 7th | 3rd | 5th | 11th | 17th |
| Science Quiz Bowl | - | 5th | - | - | 1st | - | - | 3rd |
| Sounds of Music | 10th | 4th | 15th | 5th | 1st | 1st | 4th | 27th |
2020
| Event | Cornell | LISO | Columbia | Valley Forge | North Pocono | Regionals | Centerville | SOUP | States |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Astronomy | 10th | 8th | 5th | 18th | 1st | 3rd | 8th | 15th | We |
| Dynamic Planet | 8th | 10th | 4th | 9th | 5th | 4th | 10th | 23rd | will |
| Geologic Mapping | 3rd | 9th | 1st | 7th | 2nd | 4th | 3rd | 14th | never |
| Sounds of Music | 2nd | 3rd | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 6th | 6th | know. |
Supervising
After my last competition ever was ripped away in the most untimely of manners, I will (hopefully) be forever committed to supervising and writing the best possible tests for other competitors, so that (hopefully) everyone can love SO as much as, or (hopefully) even more than, I do! Below is a table of all the events that I have helped run:
| Date | Competition | Location | Division | Event | Role | Write-Up | Test Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 14, 2022 | 2022 National Tournament | Online | B | Sounds of Music | Assistant Event Supervisor | - | - |
| April 30, 2022 | Pennsylvania State Tournament | Penn State Altoona | B | Sounds of Music | Event Supervisor | Event Write-Up | - |
| March 19, 2022 | Southeast Pennsylvania Regional | Bayard Rustin High School | B | Sounds of Music | Event Supervisor | - | - |
| March 2-26, 2022 | Pennsylvania Regional Tournaments | Various | B | Sounds of Music | Test Writer | - | - |
| January 15, 2022 | Las Vegas Invitational | Online | C | Remote Sensing | Event Supervisor | - | SOLVI |
| December 11-18, 2021 | BirdSO Invitational | Online | C | Remote Sensing | Event Supervisor | - | BirdSO |
| December 11, 2021 | Dick Smith Memorial Invitational | Online | B | Sounds of Music | Event Supervisor | - | DSM |
| May 21-22, 2021 | 2021 National Tournament | Online | C | Sounds of Music | Assistant Event Supervisor | - | - |
| May 21-22, 2021 | 2021 National Tournament | Online | C | Geologic Mapping | Test Contributor | - | - |
| April 17, 2021 | Pennsylvania State Tournament | Online | C | Sounds of Music | Event Supervisor | - | - |
| March 16-20, 2021 | Pennsylvania Regional Tournament | Online | C | Sounds of Music | Event Supervisor | - | - |
| March 7-13, 2021 | BirdSO Invitational | Online | C | Geologic Mapping | Event Supervisor | Event Write-Up | BirdSO |
| February 6, 2021 | SOAPS Invitational | Online | C | Sounds of Music | Co-Event Supervisor | Event Write-Up | SOAPS |
| January 9, 2021 | Mira Loma Invitational | Online | C | Geologic Mapping | Test Proctor | - | - |
| December 19, 2020 | Las Vegas Invitational | Online | C | Geologic Mapping | Event Supervisor | Event Write-Up | SOLVI |
| October 10, 2020 | BEARSO Invitational | Online | C | Geologic Mapping | Event Supervisor | Event Write-Up | BEARSO |
| April 5, 2019 | New York State Tournament | Syracuse, NY | B | Solar System | Co-Event Supervisor | - | - |
| April 14, 2018 | New York State Tournament | Syracuse, NY | B | Battery Buggy | Assisting Supervisor | - | - |
| March 11, 2017 | New York State Tournament | Syracuse, NY | C | Electric Vehicle | Assisting Supervisor | - | - |
(Event Supervisor means I wrote, supervised, and graded the test, Test Writer means I wrote the test but couldn't supervise, and Test Proctor means I supervised and graded the test, but didn't write it!)
If you've taken one of my tests, I would love to get your feedback! You're welcome to fill out this Google Form and let me know of what you thought of the test! Any feedback is good feedback.
Username Origin
The name Giantpants comes from Wizard101, a game I've played since 2009. Wizard101 characters each have a name, (obviously lol), and the names are in the style of [First name] [Adjective][Noun]. I was extraordinarily young when I first started playing, so I named my first character Adam Giantpants, since Adam was closest to my real name, and Giantpants because it was simply so ridiculous and funny that I couldn't not choose it haha. Fast forward almost 10 years, and I need a unique name for scioly.org, so, yeah, I chose the first ever character name I came up with in Wizard101!
I still play Wizard101, and Adam Giantpants is still around. He, a Pyromancer, is currently one of my five max level characters, and I am very proud of him and all my other achievements in-game!
More About Me
In addition to Science Olympiad, I was also the president of Kellenberg's quiz bowl team, an activity I've participated in in college, but definitely to a lesser extent. I absolutely LOVE Fall Out Boy, primarily the only music I've listened to for about 5 years, playing their songs on Pete Wentz's signature bass guitar, my most prized possession, and tracking my song play counts and rankings in a spreadsheet. Green Day is quite awesome as well.
I'm also a huge fan of Persona, competitive Mario Kart, Pokémon, the Zelda series, and a lot of other stuff! I also play Super Smash Bros. Ultimate a decent amount. I'm a Link main (and Joker """secondary""") in honor of two of my favorite series ever.
Unrelated but, I play a lot of Pokémon Go (currently level 48 at the time of writing this!). If you play too and wanna add me, my code is 7942 4168 3611. Ironically enough, some of my best Science Olympiad friends are also some of my best Pokémon Go friends!
Oh, and if by some off chance, you are interested, my favorite Fall Out Boy songs are I Don't Care, "The Take Over, the Breaks Over," Thnks fr th Mmrs, What a Catch, Donnie, Bang the Doldrums, The Last of the Real Ones, Alpha Dog, I Slept With Someone in Fall Out Boy and All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me, Novocaine, and Fourth of July. I would recommend any of them, as both Fall Out Boy songs, and as songs in general.
Anyway yeah, thanks again for reading!