Juniors Michaela Polley and Jeffrey Huang take their love for chemistry a step further with their participation in the Chemistry Olympiad. The local exam was held on Mar. 9 at Burnsville High School, featuring topics ranging from stoichiometry to organic chemistry.

“It feels really exciting to be a finalist,” Polley said. “I’m also really nervous.”

Chemistry piqued Polley’s interest because of its connection to math.

“I really love math, and I love being able to apply math in chemistry. I just really love the course,” Polley said. “My favorite topics are stoichiometry and enthalpy.”

Above all, Polley hopes to have fun at the National Exam.

“I’m going to be studying for it to learn some new topics in the process,” Polley said.

Polley and Huang are two out of fourteen finalists from the Twin Cities regional area. They will go on to compete at the National Exam on Apr. 21 at Century College in White Bear Lake, MN.