This was my second time attending the Thailand Astronomy Olympiad (TAO), which was held this year at a hotel in Chiang Mai. However, unlike last year, this time I joined with a new role—as a member of the academic committee. If you’re unfamiliar with TAO, feel free to check out my post from last year: “The 21st Thailand Astronomy Olympiad (TAO21)”.

Previously, my role involved checking questions and grading student answers. This year, however, I took on the challenge of creating the questions themselves. It was a completely different experience—writing problems that are not only scientifically accurate but also clearly worded and unambiguous for students to interpret.

I also collaborated with the marker team to grade all the students’ exams. It was fascinating to see the variety of creative answers students came up with—some well beyond what I had anticipated. Reviewing those responses gave me valuable insights on how to improve the clarity and design of future questions.

Overall, it was a rewarding experience that was quite different from last year, both in terms of responsibility and perspective.

The first two photos show the academic committee and the marker team, who worked together for a week to make the event a success. The third photo features all the gold medalists during the closing ceremony—congratulations to everyone who participated! The fourth photo is a group shot of the students from the Chula Team.