Taking chemistry to the next level

Advanced Placement Chemistry.

dents of the CO24 through a voting process.

“I thought the idea would be really fitting for the venue,” she said. “Every officer on the board had a week to think of [a theme], and then we made a poll for the class of 2024.”

The Hollywood venue was selected by the advisors, which had previously been used for prom in 2017.

All this work, according to Chun, paid off on the day of prom itself, when all the decorations were up, activities were bustling and food was being shared.

“Everyone seemed to really like [prom],” Chun said. “I’m pretty satisfied with how everything came out, and I can definitely say that all of our hard work [paid off] as we had so much fun that night. It was just such a great feeling to see all my peers having a good time as well.”

Other officers echoed similar sentiments, citing the hard work of all those involved as the catalyst for their successes.

“I can’t express enough how grateful I am to each and every individual who contributed to the planning of prom,” junior class president Justin Kung said. “It was only due to the collective efforts of everyone that we were able to pull this off.” ple-choice test to be completed in an hour and 50 minutes.

But in actuality that sentiment isn’t really true. I haven’t tried that hard this year, but I’ve still done perfectly fine and maintained good enough grades. I guess it’s just because in all actuality high school has been pretty easy? Like you hear people complaining all the time about how much homework they have and how their teachers keep giving them crap. But to be honest, it was all pretty easy in hindsight.

I’m not saying this to devalue the valiant struggle of underclassmen. But I also totally am, and they should get over themselves.

Sure, there’s the small subset of kids who are president of like 17 clubs, play 13 instruments, play a sport and are on the road to valedictorian, sure.

But most of us are just what Diamond Bar considers the “standard.” Taking four or more AP classes while still juggling extracurriculars and feeling bad for getting B’s in classes is just what the culture here has produced. And while I hate it, that’s sadly just what it is.

Only the top 10 in each of these testing sections—totaling approximately 1,000 examinees nationwide—can advance.

From DBHS, juniors Cindy Cui and Jack Zhu moved on to take the USNCO exam at Cal State San Bernardino on April 22.

To take a chemist past the local stage, generally, an average score of around 60 percent will suffice.

However, more competitive local sections will oftentimes require higher standards for its participants to strive towards.

This case is seen commonly in California and various other other widely populated states in the US.

At the national level, the test switches into a slightly more complex and complicated three-part format.

The USNCO exam at the national stage retains the multiple-choice section.

It is then followed by an additional free-response section, and then followed by a lab portion, assessing one’s hands-on experience.

In preparation for the competition’s exams, the USNCO competitors studied various topics. This included all parts, lessons, and units involved in the learning of

In total, this amounts to an entire semester’s worth of organic chemistry and moderate-to-advanced level inorganic chemistry material.

Additionally, just weeks before the local competition, Zhu traveled to Missouri to compete in the Washington University Chemistry Tournament against the greatest chemistry teams in the nation, placing within the top 20 rankings for the individual score.

“Last year, I also reached the national level competition, albeit with much less confidence,” Zhu said. “Over this school year, however, I prepared much more by studying several chemistry books and practicing the past exams available on USNCO’s website.”

The school’s participants of this year’s Chemistry Olympiad were also guided extensively by the chemistry teachers on staff, particularly faculty staff members Jennifer Bravo, the contact teacher toward ACS, and Eric Sorenson, the advisor for DBHS Chem Crew. Formed last year, the club dedicates itself to helping its members prepare for the USNCO and other chemistry-related activities, much like how the USA Biology Olympiad and Physics Club supports its members’ competitive ambitions.

“I’m delighted by this year’s results, and I can’t wait until next year to achieve even greater heights,” Zhu said. “In the meantime, I encourage everyone to try out chemistry as it’s really an underemphasized field of science.”

At the end of this school year and Chemistry Olympiad’s competition period, both Zhu and Cui swept through the test with flying colors, each placing with high honors.