Friday, May 17, 2013
The six finalists woke up this morning to experience a great day of suspense and anxiety. At 8:30 am the doors to the Intel ISEF grand awards ceremony, slowly opened to reveal a blast of music and strobe lighting. We took our seats and over the course of three hours Team Connecticut (a.k.a The Nutmeggers) had acquired four grand awards. Rebecca was the first one to bring back a fourth place award for her category in physics and astronomy. Mallory, Emily and Kaitavjeet won the third place awards for their categories each winning a $1000 cash award. Congratulations to our big winners representing Connecticut!
We all had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe enjoying fruit smoothies, milkshakes and 10 oz hamburgers. We were soon off to the Rawhide Amusement Village where each of us panned for gold, went rock climbing, and had the most memorable dinner of our lives. The famous Rawhide Steakhouse served us exotic delicacies such as Rattlesnake and Rocky Mountain Oysters (from an unfortunate male cow).
To finish our day and trip in Arizona, Team Connecticut went down to the pool for a late-night swim. All of us have had such an unbelievable and unforgettable experience at the 2013 Intel ISEF.