Want to be a brain surgeon? Get started with the brain bee
WATERLOO — Perhaps you don’t need a big brain to study brains. But probably it helps.
That’s how it seemed when 84 high school students competed to test what they know. These were smart kids, curious about something they don’t typically learn.
“I love the brain,” said Hina Zahid, 16. “It’s such a complex thing in our bodies and we don’t even know much about it yet.” She wants to become a brain surgeon.
“Your brain controls so many things and we still know not a lot about it. So I want to know why,” said Anjelica Shrestha, 17.
The University of Waterloo hosted its annual brain bee Saturday, to promote the science of the brain and help recruit kinesiology students. High schoolers were quizzed with 80 questions. They met university students and scholars, toured laboratories, and handled real brains donated for research.
“We’re going to show them how we measure excitability in the brain,” said Robyn Ibey, a kinesiology instructor at UW.
Ibey organized the brain bee. “I knew in high school that I loved neuroscience but I didn’t get any opportunities,” she said. “I love seeing this through their eyes ... and just seeing how inspired and motivated they are.”
The brain is a powerful organ. We use it to interpret our surroundings and make decisions. It controls our muscles to keep us moving. It can become diseased if the chemicals inside it lose their balance.
“The brain’s still largely a mystery I think. So it’s pretty interesting,” said Xavier Loffree, 17.
The Grade 11 student at Waterloo’s Bluevale Collegiate Institute won the brain bee, taking home a $400 prize. Now he’ll move on to a national brain bee held in Hamilton.
Loffree taught himself what he knows about brains. He’s drawn to the mystery surrounding the organ. And he’s keeping neuroscience in mind, pondering universities to attend. “A lot’s unknown and the stuff we do know is pretty complex already,” he said.
At least two local high schools now have neuroscience clubs for students who want to study brains.
“There’s so many things to learn. The brain is the centre of the body. It’s what makes the body work,” said Aylin Jalili, 16.