Weeks of preparation and out of school practices culminated on Friday, March 12, and Saturday, March 13, at the University of Missouri in St. Louis. No, this wasn’t a sports game. This was the American Chemical Society’s annual Chemistry Olympiad.

Many students from Clayton High School participated in this contest, which judges one’s skills in chemistry. Students worked with science teachers before and after school to prepare for the test learning new material that had not been covered in class and also taking practice tests to get used to the format.

Although taking a test is not everyone’s idea of fun, students found many benefits in participating in the test. To some, the incentive was simply to learn more about chemistry, and to get some additional practice.

“I took the ACS test to get better at chemistry,” sophomore Ali Rangwala said.

Sophomore Paul Lisker agreed.

“I participated in ACS to continue learning about more complex topics of chemistry,” Lisker said. “After all, the sciences are my favorite subjects in school.”

Another incentive was the cash prize involved with the contest. Lisker felt that he had a fair chance of winning, especially because of the hard work he put in when practicing, and this added to his incentives for taking the test.

“There were some questions I encountered on the real test that were very similar to ones I’d practiced on before, undoubtedly giving me an advantage,” Lisker said. “Having participated, I believe that I do have a chance [to win the prize]. Although I would have taken it even if there was no cash prize offered to the winner.”

However, even with practice, the test proved to be fairly difficult, for both Rangwala and Lisker. This difficulty came not because of time constraints, but rather the broad scope of the content.

Overall, the experience was a positive one for students. Lisker felt that the practice made it much more enjoyable.

“Having had many practices before the test, taking the test was not a stressful activity — I rather enjoyed it,” Lisker said. “The time that I and the chemistry teachers put into this surely paid off.”

For Rangwala, this test was more of a practice run. He plans to take it next year, as an AP Chemistry student, when he will be more prepared.

“I’ll take the test again next year, when it will be easier for me, and I can replace my final exam grade with it,” Rangwala said. “The test was worthwhile, since I’ll be more experienced when I take it again.”

Lisker also plans to take the test again next year, mainly because he really enjoyed the experience this year.

“The whole process of preparing for ACS and competing has endowed me with a depth of knowledge in topics of Chemistry that I would not explore until the AP class,” Lisker said. “Additionally, I’ve had much fun through the whole experience, collaborating with other students to solve each problem.”

Results of the contest will not be ready for several days, but students, especially Lisker, are really looking forward to seeing them.

“I’m very excited to see the results,” Lisker said. “I’m very optimistic about how I did. I ran through many tests before taking the real one; therefore, I was quite prepared for the questions asked. I hope, and believe, that the results will reflect my effort.”