As Huntington High School senior Juli Coraor prepares for one of the biggest weeks of her life as an Intel Science Talent Search Contest finalist, one of last year's best provided a preview of what to expect.

For Coraor, the final round takes place March 8-13 as she and 40 other finalists try for more than $630,000 in awards provided by the Intel Foundation. The top finisher receives a $100,000 scholarship.

Michelle Hackman, the second place Intel winner from Long Island in 2011, said the finalists will experience a week in Washington, D.C., that they are never going to forget.

"You meet some of the most incredible people you will ever meet in your life and then get to follow them as they become successful," said Hackman. "It's just a really exciting network of people and a really exciting series of activities to be involved in."

But no matter what happens from here on out for the final 40, it's a huge honor for them to have made it this far — so "just have fun," advised Hackman, completely blind since the age of 8 from a congenital disease.

Now midway through her first year at Yale University, Hackman said the contest requires contestants to be mailable with their minds, open-minded and knowledgeable about a wide range of topics. 

Evan O'Dorney, of Danville, Calif., won first place on 2011 for a mathematical project in which he compared two ways to estimate the square root of an integer. Matthew Miller of Elon, N.C., finished third.

Hackman's Intel project, "Communication Underload: Validating the Existence of Disconnect Anxiety," measured mobile phone dependence by teenagers. Her research on the subject has continued at Yale.

Keys to her contest success, she admits, was her public displays and mind exercises which included questions given to her by her Great Neck High School physics teacher such as, "why are manhole covers round?" 

"It's tough to prepare because you really have no clue what sort of questions the judges are going to ask you," said Hackman, who took home the $75,000 second place scholarship prize in 2011.

She said contest preparation took a lot of effort because she wanted to do her best; but with little confidence she didn't feel like she was smart enough to be up for the challenge.

Intel contest experience changed the trajectory of how the 18-year-old looks at things, she said.

"I know that I really like quantitative stuff and I really value the sciences," said the phsychology and political science double major student.

Hackman said the final moments of the contest last year was memorable as the judges gathered the 40 finalists on stage to announce the 10th place winner before counting down to No. 1. 

"By the time they got to number two, I was completely relaxed because I knew they were not going to call my name and it was over," she said with a laugh.

But that wasn't the case.

Her second place finish enabled her to meet President Obama and other prominant officials at a reception following the competition last March.

Contest experience left an impact on her life regarding the power of science through her project and those of her competitors, she said.

Hackman's future goals?

"I'm just looking to pass this semester," joked the vivacious freshman.