One day in March when I was walking to English class, science teachers Mr. Bullington and Dr. Halloran saw me and told me to come to Mr. Bullington’s room immediately.

I was terrified that I was in trouble for something. Then they showed me a computer with the words “Congratulations you have been selected to attend ISWEEEP 2016” on it and I screamed.

ISWEEEP, the International Sustainable Energy Engineering Environment Project Olympiad, takes place in Houston, Texas, the energy capital of the world, and hosts 564 students from 62 countries.

Last year Hannah Lee (‘18)  attended the fair, however my partner Sneha Reddy (‘18) and my acceptance was the first time someone from Bolles attended from an application process.

Approximately 1% of the 564 students who compete are selected from applications. I remember after Sneha and I wrote the paper in February after the Northeast Florida Regional Science Fair hoping to hear good news from the ISWEEEP board we were also doubtful because of the difficulty of the selection process.

Fast forward a month after our acceptance, after a night of no sleep from nerves and excitement, I woke up at 4:35 a.m. At 4:45, I said goodbye to my parents and headed to the airport where I met Sneha and the other three kids from Northeast Florida who were competing in ISWEEEP.

On the first day in Houston, the Northeast Florida squad set up our boards and attended the opening ceremony. The opening ceremony was amazing because all of the students from foreign countries wearing their traditional clothing. We saw girls from South Korea wearing their jeogoris, the traditional South Korean cone-shaped long dress in yellow, blue and white.

On the second day, also known as Public Day, the fair opened to the public, which allowed Sneha and I to ease our nerves before Judging Day.  

When the dreaded Judging Day arrived, Sneha and I were shaking, but after the first judge inspected our project Sneha and I pushed past our nerves and presented our project with enthusiasm.

To our surprise, a West African judge informed us that the microorganism used for our project, Mycorhizae, would be beneficial for his village. Sneha and I were so happy that we could benefit others. Sneha said “it was wonderful knowing that our project could aid others.”

The next day was the awards ceremony. When Honorable Mention for the Environmental category was being called, Sneha and I looked at each other and I said “We just need to make it past Honorable Mention.”

However, they called the Bronze winners and we still had not been called. Sneha and I thought it was over.

Then the announcer called the Silver winners. Again, Sneha and I were not called.

Disappointment settled in, but I told myself that it was about the experience not about winning.

When the announcer got to the First Place winners, a bit of hope and excitement grew, but I reminded myself again that it was about the experience.

Every time the announcer called a name I gasped a little bit. Then, I heard: “from the United States, Florida,” my heart jumped, “Ann Walton and Sneha Reddy.”

I could not believe the announcer called my name. Sneha and I stood up and hugged each other as tears of joy started rolled down my cheeks. When I walked on stage, I was still in disbelief that Sneha and I had won.

When the head of ISWEEEP put my gold medal around my neck, my heart was pounding so fast and I have never smiled so big before. The whole time on stage I was laughing and crying as tons of emotions overtook me. After all the work Sneha and I put into our project, the feeling of winning was worth every frustrating moment.

Overall, had we won or lost, my ISWEEEP experience was phenomenal. I loved meeting lots of interesting kids from other countries, exploring Houston, and the connection my partner Sneha and I have from our second year competing in the science fair has only grown stronger.

I cannot wait for our next science fair adventure, even if we walk away without winning something, because at science fairs I always gain knowledge and friendship from other students.