Friday, May 18 – Grand Awards Ceremony
Emily Philippides
Senior, Greenwich High School
Today was a bittersweet day. Waking up in the morning was very upsetting because we all knew this would be our last day at ISEF and we all had such an amazing week. I personally had so much fun on this trip meeting new people and learning so many new things… I didn’t want to leave! Sadly we had to pack all our things so that we could leave immediately following the Awards Ceremony. Speaking of the Awards 
Ceremony…
Raina Jain receiving Best of Category in Environmental Science
Overall it went very, very well for Connecticut. Maya won third place in chemistry, Shobhi won third place in translational medical science, Keshav third place in engineering mechanics, and Hiba won third place in biomedical engineering. Srikar and Cristian won fourth place in materials science. Our biggest winner of the day was Raina Jain — she not only won first place in the environmental engineering category, but she was also awarded the Best in Category award. It was very exciting to see Connecticut do so well in terms of awards, and seeing everyone’s hard work pay off.
See CSEF ISEF Awards Media Release
Immediately following the Grand Awards Ceremony and lunch at Billy’s Bar and Burger, we headed to the airport. Of course, travelling is always extremely tiring and so we all struggled to keep our eyes open, but eventually we made it home. After transferring in Philadelphia, we arrived at Bradley around 11:00 pm. We then all said goodbye and drove on home. Many of us will regroup next week at the Connecticut Academy of Science & Engineering Annul Dinner in Cromwell, to be honored for the awards we won at CSEF.
Again, I am extremely upset this week is over. Initially I was debating whether I should even attend ISEF due to other commitments, but in the end I am beyond grateful for the opportunity and the amazing experience. It was truly inspiring getting to meet people from all around the world, and for me this was definetely the highlight of the trip. Everyone at ISEF is so kind and intelligent, and every person I met is pursuing a project that is so interesting and impactful that I feel special just being surrounded by him or her. It’s so fantastic being around young scholars who share my love and passion for scientific research. Unfortunately I only participated in science fairs this year, as a senior, and cannot compete to return to ISEF next year. I wish everyone luck on their future endeavors and am excited to see what CSEF will accomplish next year!