When the emcee started to announce the medalists for Sounds of Music, I buried myself in my legs. Sixth place…fifth place… But no miracle came, and we had to walk out of the symposium of National Science Olympiad, speechless and without a medal.

On the bus, our coach called out the places Langley got for the 23 different events. I thought about the other instruments I saw on the lobby.

I spent over 200 hours on perfecting my instrument, and the guitar my partner made was flawless, but I saw at least three violins, a cello, and a harp. Rumors told me there was even a piano. After all, this was nationals.

7th place. I literally jumped out of my seat. What? We missed a medal by one place.

However, the instruments in Nationals were simply crazy, so I was grateful to even be in the top ten among those monsters.

The most valuable asset from this hundred-day journey is not the medals. It’s the realization on what science is.

Science is not well-refined information with organized diagrams that dressed-up elites talk about in five-star hotel conference rooms. Science is fickle, it is dirty (my mom yelled at me countless times for destroying the basement with sawdust), it is trial-and-error, and it is based on experience.

Frankly, I did not pay any attention to the marimba-making guide, but after making the marimba four different times, I had my own know-hows and methods. Later, I realized that the guide just repeats what I have learned.

That’s when I knew.

Oh my goodness, this is science.