Hard work pays off for Young Scientist of the Year

Intermountain Catholic

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DRAPER — This year’s Diocesan Science and Engineering Fair would be different, Nomi Pupunu, 13, decided. Last year, she failed to win an award, but rather than being deterred, the St. John the Baptist Middle School eighth-grader looked at where she could improve, then chose a project she was more comfortable with and set to work, putting in many hours to ensure her presentation was polished and professional.

That hard work paid off. On Feb. 3 she received the fair’s top honor. On her way to being named Young Scientist of the Year, she also received the Overall Eighth Grade Award and Overall Chemistry and Biochemistry Award.

“I’m excited to win something this year because I put a lot of effort into it,” she said.

The difference between the two experiences was the amount of work she put into her projects, she said. Last year, Nomi chose a project related to soccer, a sport she plays competitively. However, she never was really comfortable with the concepts she was exploring, she said. This year she chose something she was more familiar with: determining if soap can increase the luminosity of glow sticks. The scientific aspects of the experiment were easier for her because over the summer she took a chemistry course at Brigham Young University.

Although her experiment proved her hypothesis, she found the rewards of the project were greater than being right.

“I learned that putting in the work makes it all worth it,” she said. “In the beginning, I definitely was overscheduled. I thought, ‘I’m taking all these honors classes plus science fair; it’s just going to be a lot to do.’ But I learned that putting in all that work on all the weekends did pay off, because now I’m so excited to win that award.”

She was surprised when her name was called for the top award because she felt that the competition was stiff, particularly in her category of chemistry and biochemistry, she said.

Nomi enjoyed working independently on her science fair project. In previous years she had done her projects in class, but St. John the Baptist eighth-grade students are expected to work on their own, she said.

“It’s definitely different,” she said. “I had my parents to help me, and they did help me a lot with it, but most of it is you trying to figure out everything and pulling it all together and making sure it’s advanced. I think it’s just cool to figure out everything by yourself and actually understand it, whereas in a group, they may understand it and you may not, and then they try teaching you, but you still don’t understand it fully.”

“Nomi is an outstanding student and a role model to her peers,” said Connie Waung, a sixth-grade biology teacher who coordinates the St. John the Baptist Middle School science fair entries.

Nomi, who will present her project at the March 4-8 University of Utah Science and Engineering Fair, enjoys science, she said. “I just think it’s interesting to learn about the world around us. Biology is obviously about animals and plants and how we’re affecting them, and I think that’s my favorite part of science. I just think it’s cool to see how everything just comes together.”

For the statewide competition at the U, “I am a little nervous but I’m excited to see other people’s projects and possibly win something else,” she said.

While attending St. John’s, Nomi is taking four honors courses at Juan Diego Catholic High School; both schools are on the Skaggs Catholic Center campus. She has applied to attend JDCHS next year. After high school she hopes to attend university in Utah, Arizona or California. She has not decided on a future career path but is considering pursuing interior design, architecture or obstetrics, she said.