For more on this subject, check out the winter issue of Harker Magazine coming to mailboxes at the end of December. In the article, Sophomores Speak, the Class of 2016 weighs in on some of the pitfalls, challenges and fun of that first year in college.
At yesterday’s LIFE (Living with Intent, Focus and Enthusiasm) assembly, seniors had the opportunity to hear from Harker alumni about their college experiences, and what to expect and look forward to once they reach college. Nikhil Panu ’13, a recent graduate of Johns Hopkins University, was joined by three additional alumni who spoke to the students via Skype: Haley Tran ’17, currently at Stanford; Sheridan Tobin ’15, now in her third year at the University of Michigan; and Sean Pan ’14, studying at the University of Washington.
Speaking on the idea of getting into the “college of your dreams,” Panu related the story of how he seemed all set to enter MIT upon graduating from Harker before things fell through. Initially disappointed, he eventually ended up at Johns Hopkins, which he found was very receptive to his dream of playing college basketball. “It was really cool to be wanted,” he said. Furthermore, he later found out that MIT might not have been a great fit for him anyway, saying, “You’ll find your ways to make things work.”
Tobin chose Michigan because it matched up with her desire to find a college that offered opportunities to explore many interests. Pan said he did not consider UW a primary option when searching for colleges, but later found out it was the better fit for his goals.
On the topic of adjusting to college life, Tran said, “A big part of adjusting to college is the scheduling,” noting that college students have more autonomy and choices about how to spend their time, which they may find difficult at first. The lessons students learned at Harker on how to schedule time effectively, she said, could prove very useful to them.
The alumni also shared some of the spontaneous things they’ve done so far during their college years. Panu went on a number of road trips and also started a company called Squadz, which he described as “Airbnb for sports and recreation.” He came up with the idea while on a flight from San Francisco to Baltimore. Before his junior year at UW, Pan went on a road trip that hit Montana, Salt Lake City, Tahoe and the Bay Area.
Seniors also were advised on campus safety practices, including making sure that friends stay aware of one another’s status and whereabouts, using apps such as Uber for transportation, and making use of campus support lines and other resources.
Students in attendance also were encouraged to use college as a way to seek out new interests. Panu mentioned the variety of electives that colleges offer, and Tobin mentioned that her goals for college changed after she had spent time exploring opportunities. “What I thought I wanted to do when I was applying was different from what I did,” she said. “Even if you think you know what you want to do, take things because you think they’re interesting.”
Watch for our feature article, Sophomores Speak: That First Year of College, in the upcoming issue of Harker Magazine. It will arrive in mailboxes in late December.
Harker CareerConnect took eight students to Constellation Research’s Connected Enterprise summit in late October at the Half Moon Bay Ritz-Carlton. It was an engaging conference for students interested in learning more about artificial intelligence and how it will affect the world of business by creating new business models and disruptive technology.
The event featured mind-expanding keynotes, market leaders and fast-follower panel discussions, one-on-one interviews with tech visionaries, and interactive workshops in an intimate executive setting.
This year’s conference explored how the world of artificial intelligence will transform digital business. “The conference was an amazing experience and I got to make new friends and network,” said Ayesha Baweja, grade 10. “The speakers and panelists all had unique and interesting opinions. It gave me a good insight into the current state of technology and I learned many new terms.”
Krishay Mukhija, grade 9, also attended. “The conference was a great opportunity to learn about new technology which are disrupting the market,” he said. “I was able to learn from industry professionals and connect with many individuals.”
Last week, the first ever Quadchella invited the upper school community to put its talents on display in a short lunchtime festival. The showcase, whose name is a play on that of the famous southern California music festival Coachella, primarily featured musical performances, in a variety of styles, by students and some faculty.
Upper school learning, innovation and design director Diane Main and English teacher Christopher Hurshman opened the show with an acoustic rendition of Passenger’s “Let Me Go,” with Main singing and Hurshman playing guitar. Other performances included a recital of Chopin’s “Fantasie Impromptu” by Audrey Liu, grade 9; senior Millie Lin singing “Always True to You in My Fashion” from the musical “Kiss Me, Kate”; and the closer, an instrumental performance with senior Bobby Schick and help desk operator Alejandro Osorio on saxophone and Neil Ramaswamy, grade 11, on drums.
“The idea of Quadchella was actually inspired by something that the ASB at Palo Alto High School held earlier in September,” said junior Shania Wang, who is on student council’s committee of student events. After seeing snippets of Palo Alto’s own Quadchella on Snapchat, Harker ASB treasurer Megan Huynh, grade 12, “reached out about it being a really cool idea,” Wang said.
Wang encouraged Harker students and staff to show talents of which the community may not have been aware. “I feel that there are so many people that have some amazing talents that a lot of us don’t know about, so I was hoping they could use this chance,” she said. “Regarding staff, I think it’s really cool seeing teachers outside of the classroom doing amazing things.”
Performers for the event were pulled together over a period of just one month, after an announcement at an early-October school meeting and frequent posts by Student Council members on social media.
In addition to the music, the event included activities such as face (and banana) painting and a photo booth, and students could be seen blowing bubbles throughout the upper school’s auxiliary gym, where the event was held due to uncooperative weather.
Despite initial misgivings, Wang expressed happiness with how Quadchella turned out. “At first, I was really concerned with the weather forecast and possibility of rain,” she said. “Just in general, I was scared that it wouldn’t be well-received or people wouldn’t attend, but it literally made my day to see so much of the community, from students to teachers, attend.”
Feedback from classmates so far has been positive, Wang reported: “They all told me that they really loved it and had a great time, which was amazing to hear. A lot of them also were super interested in performing for Quadchella, so I’m looking forward to that.”
Wang hopes to organize one more Quadchella before the school year is out, and said that last week’s event gave her a much better idea of how to execute it. “I don’t really know of any concrete ideas, but I definitely hope to have more performances of different types,” she said. “Maybe in the future, we can hold in the actual Quad so that it lives up to its name of Quadchella.”
Over the winter break, senior Swapnil Garg and junior Katherine Tian were covered by the San Jose Mercury News for their performance in the 2017 Siemens Competition, which earned them a trip to the national finals in December.
Nov. 6, 2017:
Swapnil Garg, grade 12, and Katherine Tian, grade 11, are off to the Siemens Competition national finals! Their project – titled “Automated Clear Cell Renal Carcinoma Grade Classification with Prognostic Significance” – was selected as one of six team projects that will be considered for top honors at the final stage of the competition, held Dec. 4-5 in Washington, D.C. There, the two students will be eligible to win up to $100,000 in scholarship prizes, split evenly between them. As finalists, the pair are guaranteed a minimum $25,000 prize.
Oct. 18, 2017:
Congratulations to senior Swapnil Garg and junior Katherine Tian, who were just named two of the 101 regional finalists in this year’s Siemens Competition! They each will receive a $1,000 scholarship prize and are eligible to compete at the regional finals for the opportunity to advance to the National Finals in Washington, D.C. Best of luck!
Oct. 17, 2017:
Today, the Siemens Foundation named 10 Harker students regional semifinalists in the 2017 Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology, the most from any California school. Each year, individual and team research projects from six regions are selected to be semifinalists.
Harker’s semifinalists in the 2017 competition are Cynthia Chen and Jin Tuan, grade 10; Erin Liu, Ashwin Rammohan, Katherine Tian, Laura Wu and Katherine Zhang, grade 11; and Amy Dunphy, Swapnil Garg and Amy Jin, grade 12.
These 10 students are among the 491 semifinalists nationwide chosen from more than 1,860 projects submitted. Each of the semifinalists’ projects will be evaluated to determine which students will be named regional finalists, who in November will enter into six regional competitions. Winners from the regional finals events are eligible to attend in the National Finals, held at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., where finalists will compete for $500,000 in scholarships.
The finalists announcement is set to take place tomorrow. Stay tuned!
The girls golf team made history last week as it finished fourth in CCS, the best finish ever for a Harker girls golf team. The team narrowly missed out on a NorCal regional berth by 13 strokes. The top finisher for the Eagles was Katherine Zhu, grade 12, who tied for seventh and was one stroke away from a NorCal individual berth. Congratulations on a great year!
Cross Country
The cross country team will be sending five runners to CCS after a great showing at the league finals. Anna Weirich, grade 9, took sixth place in the WBAL and will be joined at CCS by Lilia Gonzales, grade 11; Ryan Adolf, grade 11; Arya Maheshwari, grade 9; and Aditya Singhvi, grade 9. CCS will be held at Toro Park in Salinas on Saturday.
Girls Tennis
The girls tennis team begins CCS today as players travel to Stevenson High in Monterey. In addition, league champ Sachi Bajaj, grade 9, and the doubles team of Gina Partridge and Rachel Broweleit, both grade 10, qualified for the individual and doubles playoffs, respectively, to be played Nov. 14 and 15.
Football
After a record-breaking season, the football team made history again as it will host a playoff game this Saturday at 7 p.m. vs. Sonoma Valley High School. This is the first playoff football game ever at Davis Field as the Eagles earned the No. 3 seed in the NCS Division 4 brackets. Come and support your Eagles this weekend!
Every year, student news publications from CSPA-member schools are selected to be Crown Finalists after a “head-to-head comparison,” the CSPA website states. Criteria considered in judging include design, writing, photography and coverage. Every Crown Finalist will be awarded either a Gold Crown or Silver Crown at the CSPA ceremonies, to be held in New York City in March.
In-depth news/feature story: “Behind the Statistics: Student Stories of Survival in Silicon Valley,” by Kaitlin Hsu, grade 12, Kshithija Mulam ‘17 and Meilam Steimle ‘17
First-person experience: “Stripping ‘Quiet’ of Its Negative Connotations,” by Sahana Srinivasan, grade 12
Cultural feature: “Top Binge-Worthy Shows to Watch During Spring Break,” by Sahana Srinivasan, grade 12
Photo story: “At the Pools,” by Kaitlin Hsu, grade 12
Photography/Portfolio of work: Ashley Jiang, grade 12
Informational graphics/Portfolio of work: Kaitlin Hsu, grade 12
Single-subject news or feature package, double-truck: “Science of Sleep,” by Sahana Srinivasan, grade 12
The boys water polo team ended its season with a 6-12 loss to Gunn and a 4-9 loss to Lynbrook in the SCVAL Tournament last week.
Girls Water Polo
The girls water polo team finished its season with a third place finish at the SCVAL Tournament last week. The Eagles beat Santa Clara 2-1 on a last second goal from Abigail Wisdom, grade 11. After a close 2-4 loss to Wilcox, the girls defeated Monta Vista 7-1 behind two goals from Cas Ruedy, grade 10. Coach Allie Lamb said, “This has been one of the most successful seasons for Harker girls water polo in several years.”
Football
Finishing off the best regular season in Harker history, the football team went to 9-0 after a 42-7 thrashing of Irvington High last Saturday. It was a pair of running backs leading the way as Aaron Smith, grade 11, ran for 176 yards and two TDs, while Marcus Tymous, grade 11, ran for 103 yards and two TDs. The Eagles take a week off before finding out where they fall in the NCS playoff bracket, which starts on Nov. 10.
Girls Golf
The girls golf team continues to roll as it finished second at the WBAL tournament last week. Katherine Zhu, grade 12, once again led the Eagles, as she shot a 3-under-par 67. Zhu is the four-time league champion, the only person, male or female, to accomplish that task in league history. The girls travel to Laguna Seca early Monday to compete at the CCS Championships.
Girls Tennis
The girls tennis team ended its regular season with a 4-3 win over Sacred Heart Prep and a 0-7 loss to Menlo. This week, the Eagles travel to Menlo for the CCS qualifiers.
Girls Volleyball
The girls volleyball team ended its season last week with a four-game loss to Mercy San Francisco on Senior Night and a 3-0 loss to Menlo later in the week.
Cross Country
This Friday, the cross country team competes at the WBAL Championship at Crystal Springs Cross Country Park.
The Harker football team continued its historic season by defeating Lindhurst High 34-6 on Friday. The 8-0 Eagles were led by 181 rushing yards and two touchdowns from Aaron Smith, grade 11; 255 yards passing and three TDs from Nate Kelly, grade 12; and fine defensive games by James Pauli, grade 12, who racked up 11 tackles and two sacks, and Jadan McDermott, grade 12, with 10 tackles and three sacks. The Eagles finish off the regular season at TAK Stadium in Fremont against Irvington High this Friday.
Cross Country
The cross country team competed at the second WBAL meet last week at Baylands Park and showed great improvement. Most runners improved at least 30 seconds over their season-best marks. Ryan Adolf, grade 11, led the varsity boys, cutting a minute off his time from the first WBAL meet. Anna Weirich, grade 9, placed sixth in the varsity girls race, running her personal best by 30 seconds. The runners now prepare for the WBAL finals, to be held on Nov. 3 at Crystal Springs Cross Country Park.
Girls Tennis
The girls tennis team picked up its third and fourth straight wins last week as it defeated Pinewood 7-0 on Senior Day and Castilleja 5-2 later in the week. This week, the girls take on Castilleja on Monday, Sacred Heart Prep on Tuesday and Menlo on Thursday.
Girls Golf
Last week, the girls golf team knocked off Sacred Heart Prep on Senior Day 262-186, with Katherine Zhu, grade 12, taking the top spot by shooting a 33. Later in the week, the Eagles defeated Notre Dame Belmont, Mercy Burlingmae and The King’s Academy in a quad match. Zhu earned medalist honors again as she shot a 35. Right behind her was Katelyn Vo, grade 10, who shot a 37. It’s a big week for the Eagles as they finish the regular season against Castilleja and Sacred Heart Prep on Monday before taking on the entire WBAL in the league championships on Wednesday.
Boys Water Polo
The boys water polo team picked up a 9-8 win over Mona Vista last week, before falling to Los Altos 2-17 and Los Gatos 10-15. This week, the boys will compete in the SCVAL Tournament at Lynbrook.
Girls Water Polo
Last week, the girls water pol team lost to Wilcox 6-4 before defeating Santa Clara 6-5 later in the week. In the win over Santa Clara, Abigail Wisdom, grade 11, led the Eagles with five goals. This week, the Eagles compete in the SCVAL Tournament at Fremont High.
Volleyball
Last week, the girls volleyball team defeated Mercy Burlingame in three games, led by 16 kills from Lauren Napier, grade 12. Later in the week, the Eagles fell to ND Belmont in three games, with Isabella Spradlin, grade 12, leading the Eagles with 10 kills. The Eagles finish up the regular season this week as they host Mercy SF on Senior Night on Tuesday, before traveling to Menlo on Friday.
Alumni
Joelle Anderson ’17 continues to play well as she scored three goals last week to help move Pepperdine into the No. 10 spot in the national rankings.
Not to be outdone by his little sister, Jeremiah Anderson ’15 earned Golden State Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week for the second week in a row.
The devastating fires in the North Bay resulted in terrible air quality in the South Bay, forcing the cancellation of many Harker athletic events last week. Here are the results for the games that were played, as well as the schedule for this week’s action.
Girls Tennis
Last week, the girls tennis team defeated Scotts Valley and Crystal Springs Uplands, both 7-0, improving its record to 9-3 on the season. This week, the girls host Pinewood on Tuesday before traveling to Castilleja on Wednesday.
Boys Water Polo
The boys water polo team dropped a match with Palo Alto 11-6 last week. This week, the Eagles have a jampacked schedule as they travel to Monta Vista on Monday, then host Los Altos on Tuesday before traveling to Los Gatos on Thursday and competing at the Monta Vista Tournament over the weekend.
Girls Water Polo
The girls water polo team lost two heartbreaking matches last week as they fell to Monta Vista 6-7, then to Fremont 2-3. This week, the Eagles travel to Monta Vista on Monday, host Wilcox on Tuesday and travel to Santa Clara on Thursday.
Volleyball
Last week, the volleyball team lost to Sacred Heart Prep in three games with Lauren Napier, grade 12, leading the Eagles with 11 kills. Later in the week, the Eagles defeated Notre Dame San Jose in four games behind 16 kills from Napier. This week, the girls travel to Mercy Burlingame on Tuesday, Notre Dame Belmont on Thursday and the ND Belmont Tournament over the weekend.
Football
On Friday, the football team will celebrate its seniors during the Senior Night festivities and then host Lindhurst High School in hopes of staying undefeated on the season.
Also, congrats to Dominic Cea, grade 12, who was named the Cal-Hi Sports NorCal Special Teams Player of Week for his kicking success against Tamalpais High.
Girls golf will get back to the links this week – and will be very busy. On Monday, the Eagles take on The King’s Academy, Tuesday is Senior Night as the ladies match up with Sacred Heart Prep, and on Friday, the Eagles play in a quad match with Notre Dame Belmont, Sacred Heart Prep and Mercy.
Cross Country
This Thursday, the cross country team competes in the second WBAL meet, this time at Baylands Park. Then, on Saturday, the Eagles run in the Soquel Invitational.
Upper school students packed Nichols Hall on Friday morning to seek out volunteer opportunities at this year’s Service Fair. Student-run organizations, as well as local organizations including the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Outdoor Science School, had tables set up where representatives offered information to passersby.
The Tutoring Club, one of the many student organizations accepting volunteers, offers tutoring services to students at the lower, middle and upper school levels. Students are often referred to the club by counselors. “We ask qualified upperclassmen to tutor these students,” said senior Richa Bhattacharya, co-organizer of the club with classmate Morgan Douglas. “So they’ll meet maybe once a week after school and give additional guidance.” Signing up as a tutor is as easy as being added to a mailing list. “Whenever there’s a tutoring request, we send it out to the entire club and it’s basically on a first-come, first-serve basis,” Bhattacharya said.
Shafieen Ibrahim, grade 11, was at the event to recruit volunteers for his organization, Shafieen Helping a Friend (SHAF). Ibrahim, whose parents are from Bangladesh, hopes to help children in rural Bangladesh, specifically to “get them new equipment, get them more advanced technology so that the kids there have a better education,” he said. Money he has raised by competing in Bay Area chess tournaments has been used to provide a girls school in the city of Comilla with new computers and other equipment. Ibrahim was searching for volunteers to assist in creating teaching materials that will help the students in Comilla learn how to use software such as Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator to create a “visual product” that can be sold in the United States to generate more funds for the school.
Prameela Kottapalli, grade 11, was at the Service Fair to promote Power of Words (POW), a student organization that introduces local elementary and middle school students “to the power of creativity and creative thought,” she said. POW has allied with the Boys & Girls Club of Silicon Valley to hold an upcoming eight-week writing workshop, and was at the fair seeking volunteers to help develop the curriculum and lesson plans. “We’d be helping kids with their writing skills as well as evoking a sense of creative thought and imagination,” said Kottapalli. The organization also plans to hold workshops to help the young writers develop essays they plan to submit to contests.