After countless hours spent studying different biology concepts, over 20 Diamond Bar High School students completed the United States of America Biology Olympiad exam on Feb. 2, with a single Brahma prevailing toward the semifinals.

Administered to approximately 10,000 students from across the nation each year, the exam measures the critical skills used by biologists. Those scoring within the top 10 percentile move onto the USABO semifinals, with only the top 20 of this batch moving on to the national finals. From there, the competition is narrowed down to four students who go on to represent the nation at the International Biology Olympiad.

At DBHS, the USABO test is administered as part of its club, which also gives lectures on the exam material to better prepare all students interested in taking the test. 

“The club helped me by holding bi-weekly lecture sessions and providing resources to help our study process,” junior Amy Wang said via Instagram.

Outside of the club, students self-study through practice books and textbooks, in addition to taking courses like AP Biology to help them prepare. 

“Much of my studying involved doing past tests from previous years, which are all available online,” senior Alyssa Wu said via Instagram. “I also own a Campbell’s Biology textbook, which covers a large portion of the concepts and details the test questions ask about.”

Since its administration this year, senior co-president Jaden Zhang has qualified for the semi finals competition which will take place on March 31. 

“Hard work and consistency were the qualities that helped me perform well on the test,” Zhang said. “Whether it was doing practice problems, or making flash cards, I always tried to do something daily in order to learn and retain the knowledge.”

Having been a member of DBHS’ USABO club for four years now, this will be Zhang’s second time taking the semifinal exam. Despite this consistent success, he feels making the finals will be a tremendous challenge.

“Reaching the finalist level is extremely difficult because only the top 20 students in the nation make it,” Zhang said. “I’ll just continue studying and trying my best.”