I walked into chemistry class today, late, expecting it to be just another day in the lab. I immediately say down in front of a computer and got to work. I was doing research for a biochemistry project. Drug metabolism, to be exact.

Today was shaping up to be just another day at the proverbial office. That is, until junior Tej Chajed came barging in halfway through the period shouting, “Danny we won!”

With the utterance of those three unassuming words, Tej had just brightened my outlook on the day, the week, my life.

What was he talking about? What did “we” win? Tej was referring to the 17th annual ExploraVision competition.

We found out today that our team, which consists of Tej, me, Daniel Cheng, and Isaac Chambers, placed first in the final round of the international science contest.

It all started around November, when Tej, Daniel, and I got together to start our third consecutive ExploraVision project together. The competition asks teams of two to four students to envision a technology that can be applied 20 years in the future.

Like every year, the first thing we did was sit down and pick a problem to solve. This year, we chose atherosclerosis, also referred to as heart disease, the leading cause of death in the U.S.

And so, Tej, Daniel, and I began our epic quest for a cure. The first round of competition required us to write an 11-page paper detailing the history of heart disease treatment, the current technology, and our vision for the future.

Halfway through the first round, we realized that if we were chosen as regional winners, we would have to make a video and Web site, which none of us had any experience with. Enter Isaac Chambers. As a late addition to our group, Isaac provided the technical expertise and artistic vision we needed in case we got past the first round.

With Isaac in our group, I began to notice a few interesting coincidences. For instance, Isaac is the only senior in our group; Isaac is the only non-Asian person in our group, and I am the only member of our group whose last name does not start with the letters “c” and “h.”

Despite the somewhat exclusive nature of these coincidences, we worked very well together and won our region. The next round would pit the six regional winners in our age group against each other for two international prizes.

In the second round, we had to create a video and Web site that promoted our technology, and obviously we did a good job, winning the first-place prize of $10,000 savings bonds for each of us.

Looking back on the competition, I’m not surprised that we did as well as we did. After all, with all of the work we put in after school and on weekends, I think all of us were expecting the announcement today.

Finally, I would like to point out that none of our success would have been possible without our superstar coach, biology teacher David Stone, who is undoubtedly the best ExploraVision coach in the world. It was his experience and guidance that allowed us to constantly think and rethink through our technology.

To anyone who is interested in participating in next year’s competition, I highly recommend doing so. ExploraVision is unique in that it focuses more on the creative and imaginative side of science. Working through a project will surely introduce you to an entirely new way of thinking. And of course, the money isn’t bad either.