Pre-MESA Day: Students Prepare for Final Competition

SHELLEY LIN
Staff Writer

On March 7, 30 students in AHS Mathematics, Engineering, Science, Achievement (MESA) brought home medals from Pre- Mesa Day. Pre-Mesa Day is a project-based competition day held at the University of Southern California (USC) with students competing in a variety of competitions.

“[My goal this year] as an adviser of MESA, is [for] my students [to] enter an event that they will be interested in. [I try to] supply them with useful materials and run a Pre-MESA day competition amongst our own club,” math teacher Steven Mira said.

In the “Speak Out” group activity, each group, consisting of three members, needs to give a five minute speech featuring one of the three given topics. Sophomores Stella Lin, Tracy Duong and Cyndia Zhou placed first in the event.

“I feel like my interest in science and technology increased since joining MESA. I’ve become more responsible because I was cocaptain of Technology Student Association (TSA) Tests of Engineering Aptitude, Mathematics and Science (TEAMS), which is another competition that MESA [participates in],” Lin said.

Sophomores Tiffany Tran, Shirlynn Li and Kristi Mai placed second and Bryan Kwong, Iric Hong and Richard Hu placed third in Speak Out as well.

“MESA helped me with putting my knowledge into practical application. I tend to learn a lot more about a topic when I am competing. [It has also] help me realize what I want to do [in the future],” Kwong said.

Juniors Cody Khuu, Zi Feng Zeng, Winnie Vong won the championship in building the Prosthetic Arm.

“My favorite part of being in MESA is that I get to go to USC with friends to compete with other schools. [I enjoy] the feeling of anxiousness; it is exciting to [reveal] how [the] months of planning and work will [turn out] against [my competitors],” Khuu said.