Owen Stevens Competes in Long Island Brain Bee

Huntington sophomore Owen Stevens loves to challenge himself. So he sought out the highly regarded Long Island Brain Bee competition sponsored by The Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell and the Department of Biology at the Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Contest organizers invited high school students to participate in this year’s Brain Bee contest. The event exposes young students to the study of the brain early in their academic careers and aims to motivate students to pursue careers in neurology, neurosurgery, psychology or neuroscience.

The one-day competition is open to Long Island high school students ages 13-19 years of age. The Long Island Brain Bee involves two rounds of competition, including a written test of multiple choice questions on brain facts and a test to identify anatomical structures and functions in real human brain specimens.

Following the laboratory examination, participants enjoyed lunch and learned with current undergraduates and medical students, in addition to physicians, scientists and professors who are experts in brain biology.

At the close of the competition, awards are given to students with the top three scores. The first-place winner earned a trip to the National Brain Bee  competition and an opportunity to participate in a summer research project at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research.

While Mr. Stevens wasn’t among the top three finishers he had an excellent experience and is already looking forward to next year’s competition.