Kosha Upadhyay

Numbers fascinate me, especially doing complex math, all in my head, within a few seconds. Since 2nd grade, I have cherished the awed expression - ‘How did you do that fast?’ Though I enjoyed solving difficult problems in Math and Physics at various competitions, I saw very few girls around me. Despite being strong in academics, most girls shied away from competing and proving their knowledge of STEM. After studying the trends for educational equity from the department of education, I noticed that girls exceeded all educational standards and yet remained aloof to the complexities of STEM.

I have always been treated as an equal by my family. So, when I brought up this disturbing fact at the dinner table, my brother asked me to brainstorm ideas to influence this and increase girls' participation in competitive STEM. I enjoyed playing mental math games, puzzles, and buzzer games so, I thought ‘How about inventing a game that offers exciting questions across various STEM topics while offering a non-competitive, and collaborative experience?’ I invited a few of my friends and explained how to play Buzz Bowl. Everyone loved it so much that we started meeting weekly. That’s when I realized, that Buzz Bowl had the potential to engage a larger student body which led to the founding of my non-profit.

As a STEM enthusiast, I always dreamt of pursuing it as a career, but I was bothered by the fact that women represented only 34% of the STEM workforce (National Science Board) and almost 70% of STEM enthusiasts pursued healthcare. While I was always encouraged and looked after to pursue my interests, I noticed a lack of such a support system among my peers. Despite being equally capable and interested in STEM, many including girls pursued other fields due to fear of competition and discrimination. To identify a meaningful solution, I read many case studies.

Recent research refutes the claims that innovation is inspired only by inherent diversity - talents you are born with or capable of diversifying into. It suggests adding the second dimension, the acquired diversity – talents you gain through different perspectives, and collective knowledge. Maximizing the rate of innovation requires cultivating an environment that has built-in diversity, through balanced gender ratios, and race inclusion. I wanted to influence producing a diverse future workforce and up-level current STEM workforce statistics, which is why I started my nonprofit, Science For Community.

Researching studies around ways to create STEM diversity led me to two discoveries – start early, and make the learning process exciting. I designed an outreach experiment where I invited 5th to 8th-grade girls online and, played a buzzer game of easy STEM questions. It soon became popular and more girls started attending. This validated my hypothesis and presented the need to create a large-scale experience to include the entire student community. I designed a novel experience called Buzz Bowl, a buzzer-based game comprised of questions from eight STEM subjects. Students participate as a team, slotted into beginner, intermediate or advanced brackets, based on their grade and knowledge level. Teams are provided with level-appropriate self-study material, 3 months in advance.

The game is played in two phases. In the first phase, every team plays other teams in the bracket, giving everyone a fair opportunity to compete. In the second phase, all teams are matched on their cumulative scores. They play using a ladder-based format instead of an elimination approach which removes the anxiety of competition. After completion of the second phase, cumulative scores and wins across the game are used to award at least 40-50% of students. Buzz Bowl’s format promotes collaboration and healthy competition, offering an opportunity to validate what students have learned from the study material.

As Buzz Bowl’s innovative format and superior learning experience became popular, I required help with acquiring a larger venue, managing communications, making questions, proctoring, and scorekeeping. I turned to my friends with different skills for help, offering volunteer hours for their involvement. We formed a team of 9 students, Eeshan, Satiyen, Suriyen, Jessica, Andrew, Ally, Kajal, and Seema. A few of them assist with leading my non-profit. I contacted Bellevue Schools Foundation, who helped secure a middle school as a permanent venue. Jessica and I reach out to friends and schools for securing volunteers. Together we manage training around 60 students as the proctors and scorekeepers for each Buzz Bowl. This helps us ensure everyone knows all the rules and event runs smoothly. We need around 800 questions across seven subjects for each event. Eeshan, Satiyen, Suriyen, Ally, Andrew, and I make questions for all levels. We also need to register the students where Jessica provides big help. I make sure that the venue is ready for the event and also take care of the communication with the parents and students. Eeshan manages to check in volunteers and organize food. Kajal and Seema manage the California and New Jersey chapter.

Since 2016, Buzz Bowl has grown its impact on the student community. A Buzz Bowl now comprises more than 200 participants supported by over 60 high school volunteers. I invite STEM enthusiasts looking for an outlet to contribute but lacking an opportunity. More than 400 high schoolers have earned over 4500 community hours. It has influenced more than 1500 participants from 57 schools in 8 districts of Washington, California, and New Jersey. Buzz Bowl participants have achieved big at competitive STEM. Several Buzz Bowlers have qualified for the National Science Bowl and even won the National competition.

Buzz bowl has affected girls in a big way. Since my first event, I have increased the girl’s participation from 20% (6 of 30) in 2016 to 35% (70 of 200) in 2020. Girls in particular love a socially engaging, competition-free, level-appropriate opportunity to showcase their knowledge. They love to learn from each other and collaborate.

To ensure more students get excited about learning STEM, my non-profit has donated more than $13,000 of Buzz Bowl proceeds to the needy after-school STEM clubs in the area. As both an innovative learning opportunity and a great community experience, Buzz Bowl became a favorite event in the area. My organization was nominated for the Nonprofit of the Year Award in 2019 in Washington, recognized by Points of Lights, and has alliance with NCWIT.