2024 IOAA Report: Andrew Zhang
1. What have you learnt from this experience?
There are so many different ways of engaging with science. Astronomy, especially at the IOAA, is so much more than past papers and revision. One experience I remember very fondly was experiencing the Brazilian night sky for the first time with the rest of the team, mapping out the sky and discovering the site.
Brazilian food is amazing! There were so many different countries present, and the whole competition was a giant melting pot of cultures. We were put together with the Swiss team and it was particularly interesting learning about their experiences growing up in such a multilingual environment.
I guess more generally, I learnt to not shy away from these kinds of events, although it did seem overwhelming having to prepare for ten days away from home, the support from the team as well as the hospitality we received from the hotel staff and supervisors really made me feel at home. Would totally go again given the opportunity!
2. If there’s one thing you would say to future participants, what would it be?
Try not to stress over the little things. Time will fly by really quickly especially after the first couple of exams, so make the most out of your time there. Also, during the competition, we were often told that being there is a great achievement in itself. I found that really motivating to think about, the fact that we have an opportunity to represent something greater than ourselves and we get to celebrate science together with a bunch of extremely hard working and talented participants.
3. How has this trip reshaped your understanding of the field of astronomy and astrophysics?
Definitely! The IOAA really pushed me into an area of physics that schools typically shy away from. It was also interesting to see how well much of the content covered in school could be extended to suit astronomy such as celestial mechanics.
