Ellie Bossier, copy editor

One of my favorite weeks of the year is Fat Bear Week, an online competition that follows the bears who live at Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska as they prepare for hibernation.

What originated in 2014 as a one-day event called Fat Bear Tuesday has grown into a full week of observing these bears and voting for the fattest bear of them all.

This year, Fat Bear Week went from Sept. 22 to Sept. 29 and the winner was Bear89, nicknamed Backpack because he used to cling on his mother’s back as a cub. I am not involved with any environmental studies; I just have lots of love in my heart for these bears.

Not only is Fat Bear Week fun for people who get to know and vote for the bears; it is also important for the survival of the bears. During hibernation, bears lose around one third of their total body weight, which is why fattening up beforehand is crucial.

This is one reason why I love Fat Bear Week, I enjoy knowing all of this is guaranteeing the success of these bears for spring.

The Katmai Conservancy has livestreams of the bears that people watch on YouTube to keep up with the bears as the week progresses. I like to put on the livestreams of the bears when I am cleaning my room or doing homework. After telling a professor about the bears, he pulled up the livestream, and we spent a couple of minutes watching the bears together.

People can vote for the fattest (or their favorite) bear of Fat Bear Week. These votes determine the champion of Fat Bear Week.

One of my favorite parts of Fat Bear Week is getting to know the bears and learning their little quirks and personalities. Since the bears that compete are the bears that reside at Katmai National Park and Preserve, many of these bears are familiar faces to those who keep up with Fat Bear Week every year. I think this connection with the bears adds to the excitement of who is chosen as the champion.

My favorite bear in Fat Bear Week history is Bear480, nicknamed Otis, the original champion of Fat Bear Week. Not only was Otis the original fat bear, but he has also managed to win Fat Bear Week four separate times.

One year, Otis employed a strategy of sitting at the edge of the river and letting the salmon come to him, which was extremely entertaining to watch. While Otis is not in the running this year, there is a specific bear I was rooting for this year.

My vote this Fat Bear Week was for Bear428, who is rightfully nicknamed Studious. She has earned this nickname from fans watching her in previous Fat Bear Weeks as a cub, where she would always be hypervigilant while learning how to fish with her mother. I was one of the people watching her learn how to catch fish and spend time cuddling up with her mother, which is a big factor into why I voted for her this year.

With the stress of everyday life, it’s nice to have something lighthearted such as Fat Bear Week to keep up with. Millions of people vote during Fat Bear Week and root for bears who have no idea they are competitors with adoring fans.

I love Fat Bear Week because I get to keep up with all the cutest bears, and I love knowing they are fat, happy and ready for a successful hibernation that will leave them healthy and ready for spring.