Daniel Saptari, a senior and former captain of the Lexington High School Science Olympiad team, was named one of the five national winners of the Founder Scholarship. This award recognizes outstanding high school seniors who participate in Science Olympiad and demonstrate a strong commitment to science and leadership. From this scholarship, Saptari received $10,000 towards his college funds.

Saptari’s Science Olympiad journey began in seventh grade when he joined his middle school team. However, the COVID-19 pandemic put a pause on the team’s activities, and Saptari ended up re-joining in tenth grade, where he remained an integral part of the team until graduation. 

“I think the best part [of Science Olympiad] was being on a team of cool people and then also working on the flight events [a certain category of events in the competition]. Those were the ones that were the most fun for me… Having a group of people that I can work towards a specific goal with, competing together, and just getting to explore more engineering stuff on my own outside of school,” Saptari said. 

In the process of applying for the Founder Scholarship, Saptari recalls how Science Olympiad helped shape his future career choice. 

“It made me sure that I wanted to do engineering. I got into Science Olympiad largely because of the flight events. Even once I joined, I pretty much took on all the build events and went through the process of designing and iterating and then actually running the build site,” Saptari said. 

Saptari’s passion for engineering is a reflection of the large STEM community within LHS where Science Olympiad is one of the largest clubs. Just this past season, the team won the Massachusetts state championship and traveled to Nebraska to compete at nationals.

As Saptari attends Georgia Institute of Technology studying Aerospace Engineering, he looks forward to pursuing new endeavors that are related to his passions. 

“[Georgia Tech] have project teams, which are kind of like Science Olympiad on steroids. The one I want to join is Formula Student, which is where a team of engineers builds a Formula-style race car,” Saptari said.  

Reflecting on his journey and the challenges he faced, Saptari offered some advice for students who may feel hesitant about getting involved.

“I’d say just put yourself out there. I remember when I first joined the Science Olympiad here, I was a bit nervous about it because I was on crutches back then and had big medical issues with my leg, so I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to do the builds. But I’m glad that I just forced myself to do it, and it turned out just fine. So don’t let anything stop you, and try new things.”