Like many teenagers, Michelle Deng ’12 grappled over questions of individuality and fitting in. However, in addition to those quite typical teen concerns, she also worked out equally pressing and broader issues of cultural identity.
Deng recently addressed her uplifting journey towards affirming her identity as an Asian-American youth in last spring’s “Growing Up Asian in America” high school-aged writing contest. Deng stood out from hundreds of other contestants and won second place for her powerfully written essay, “International Orange.”
Growing Up Asian in America is a competitive art and essay program sponsored by the Asian Pacific Fund, the largest celebration of Asian heritage in America. The Fund has operated the program since 1995. Now, with the Golden Gate Bridge celebrating its 75th anniversary, the organization asked this year’s contestants to reflect upon the “bridges” in their own lives.
In her entry, Deng artfully compared her experience at coming to terms with being a Chinese American to architect Irving Morrow’s selection of paint color during the historic construction of the Golden Gate Bridge.
In her work, Deng noted that as a second-generation Chinese girl, she found the Silicon Valley a friendly place to grow up. “I often joke with visitors that you don’t even have to go to Chinatown to run into Chinese supermarkets, dim sum places and boba milk tea cafes within five minutes of one another,” Deng wrote in her essay, noting that she, therefore, never really felt defined by her ethnicity.
That all changed, however, when she traveled to China with her mother, and felt as “out of the water as a fish could be.” She recalled feeling more American than Chinese.
Throughout her writing, the choosing of a paint color for the Golden Gate Bridge served as a metaphor for her slowly evolving sense of identity. Personal narrative was expertly juxtaposed and intertwined with snapshots of how, back in 1933, Morrow selected and fought for a color choice that some had a hard time accepting at first.
Deng ended her essay with a scene of her symbolically standing before the Golden Gate Bridge, noting that strangely enough, despite having grown up less than an hour away, she’d never actually stepped onto the bridge before. She vividly described feeling like a tourist standing on the bridge for the first time.
Yet, somehow, she continued, the connection was far deeper. “This was my home. Wherever I was, I would take a part of this place with me, and I would be American, Asian, Californian, human, or what have you, and I would soar,” she wrote in her essay’s final line.
“We asked students to explore bridges that have been meaningful to them – whether real, physical bridges, or symbolic bridges that connect important parts of their lives, or help them cross through challenging personal journeys,” explained the contest sponsor on its website.
The Asian Pacific Fund reported being inundated with entries from students who have struggled with their identities, whether they have just arrived from Asia and are negotiating what it means to be American and Asian, or whether they are multiracial children trying to reconcile each side of their heritage.
“They have built bridges by learning foreign languages, cooking new cuisines, mending broken relationships, overcoming disability, watching YouTube, and experimenting with musical instruments. Their journeys are as diverse as their cultures, but many have arrived atsimilar destinations: a place where they don’t need to choose one side over the other, but are at peace standing right where they are – in the middle,” noted the fund.
Every year, around 1,400 Bay Area students in K-12 compete in the program by submitting artwork, essays and poems on a specific theme for some $27,000 in prizes. Winners receive savings bond awards worth $1,000-$2,000, and are honored at an awards ceremony at the Asian Art Museum. Special exhibits displaying the winning artwork and essays go on tour during Asian Pacific Heritage Month, and are hosted throughout the year by more than 50 public libraries all over the Bay Area. All winning entries are also archived online at the Asian Pacific Fund website.
Grandparents’ Day, held annually in May, is always a highlight of the school year. During the event, students on the lower school campus welcome grandparents, special adult friends or “adoptive” grandparents-for-the-day for a memorable afternoon in their honor.
This year, grandparents enjoyed a performance by Harker students of varying grade levels, refreshments, a visit to the art show and their grandchildren’s classrooms. Another special highlight was the school’s coinciding annual book fair in the Bucknall library, where some guests chose to dedicate a book especially for their grandchild. Attendees had their pictures taken as a memento of their visit to their grandchildren’s home away from home.
For two weeks in April, Sam Cleary, a teacher at St. Stephen’s College in Australia, visited the upper school to teach and observe classes as part of Harker’s teacher exchange program with the school.
Cleary observed classes in English, history and forensics, and taught a number of English and forensics classes himself.
Harker prides itself on building progressive academic and cultural partnerships between institutions around the world to provide meaningful experiences for students at all grade levels, preparing them to be true global citizens.
As part of Harker’s global education program, upper school students have the opportunity to travel to Switzerland to practice their French and Australia to hone their leadership skills. Harker also hosts several short- and long-term exchange students from various countries including Germany, Australia, Switzerland and Japan. Harker further hosts visiting teachers from China, Japan and Australia.
On May 8 the lower school instrumental and choral programs held their 2012 Bucknall Spring Concert, directed by Louis Hoffman and Jennifer Cowgill. The performance featured dozens of young students and showcased Bucknall’s instrumental program, open to all students K-5.
The instrumental program includes a comprehensive course of study in orchestra, string, wind and jazz ensembles and beginning group lessons, as well as the opportunity to study privately with specialty teachers. The program focuses on musicianship, ensemble playing, articulation, dynamics, intonation and understanding of different styles through exposure to various repertoires.
All these skills were on radiant display during the spring concert, from both singers and instrumentalists, giving the crowd a great night of entertainment.
Tyler Koteskey ’11 has just finished his freshman year at the University of California, Los Angeles, and he spent part of it organizing a record-breaking rally for presidential candidate Ron Paul. More than 6,600 people attended the event in early April, making it Paul’s largest rally ever. It got so large, in fact, that after booking an initial venue, Koteskey had to find a bigger one. The RSVPs kept pouring in, far beyond what he expected, and Koteskey continued to accommodate them, watching the numbers swell well into the thousands. The event ended up being held in Straus Stadium at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. According to Koteskey, “All of this was accomplished within a week, mostly during spring break, as I recovered from impacted wisdom teeth extraction. Luckily it all worked out in the end!”
There were few empty seats at Straus Stadium, and huge lines to get in. The event was widely covered, with stories in The Daily Bruin, The Daily Bruin Radio and The Washington Times hailing the event as “a scene that made Beatlemania seem tame” and “a complete success.”
At the time of the event, Koteskey was also looking at summer internships. “I was also accepted into the Alpha Lambda Delta Honors Society for academic achievement freshman year,” he added, making this a truly momentous first year of college.
This article was originally published in the summer 2012 Harker Quarterly.
There’s something about a room with a view. And from Butch Keller’s office on Harker’s upper school campus, students can easily be seen walking happily to and from class throughout the day.
Moreover, the upper school head’s light-filled, heavily window paned office perfectly mirrors the way Harker approaches the high school experience – with an outward vision towards meeting student needs. In turn, the students often continue thinking of Harker even after they graduate.
In fact, Keller explained that the now annual alumni university tours actually began from the alumni themselves, who kept writing, wanting to keep in touch, asking for visits on their new college campuses, eager to show how well they were doing.
“This didn’t start out as some official program. It was simply former students asking us for visits,” affirmed Jane Keller, Butch’s wife, an upper school math teacher at Harker, who also goes on the trips to visit alumni at college campuses throughout the U.S.
During a recent trip, held over spring break, the Kellers met with more than 40 Harker alumni attending various universities on the East Coast. Trip highlights included group dinners and visits to Tufts University, Princeton University and Wagner College in New York.
On a previous alumni tour held in October, the Kellers visited students living in Washington, D.C. That trip included a visit with alumni at Georgetown University, as well as a visit to George Washington University, which included a group breakfast, dinner and watching a volleyball game played by Candace Silva-Martin ’09.
As a memento of their visits, and on behalf of Harker’s alumni office, the Kellers gave the students giant “Keller tour” mugs further inscribed with the names of the varied universities they attend. After the most recent trip, alumni emphasized how much they enjoyed their time catching up and bonding with one another, as well as updating Harker (via the Kellers) on life after graduating.
“When Mr. Keller visited Washington, D.C., I showed him and Ms. Keller around campus and ate dinner with them and other alumni from the area,” said Rishi Bhatia ’11. “During my Easter break, I was in New York, so I went to the alumni dinner there where I saw former classmates who are now studying in New York. I enjoyed meeting other alumni and talking about our experiences since we left Harker,” said Bhatia, who had the unique opportunity to be a part of both the Washington, D.C., and New York Keller tours.
Butch Keller said the first alumni trip began in spring ’09 when he and his wife headed to New York to attend a performance by Harker’s upper school
orchestra at Lincoln Center. Several alumni living in the area heard they were coming and asked them to stop by.
Soon after, requests were made from other alumni, such as students from the upper school’s first class to graduate with Butch Keller as head, to “come out and see us.”
During the visits, the Kellers always seek to understand what Harker did well to prepare students for university life and what could be improved upon. This year they heard over and over again how well trained graduates were in writing research papers, especially in the area of humanities.
Both the Kellers agree on the importance of visiting alumni while they are still in college and of learning on location by “living in the moment” with the students.
“The alumni visits are very special trips – with no strings attached – that really grew organically from the students themselves. It’s been so rewarding staying in touch and learning what everyone is up to,” Butch Keller said.
Harker showed its appreciation for the many parent volunteers who offer their time at school events and other functions by treating them to a special lunch at the lower school campus on May 16. Jennifer Cowgill led the Bucknall Choir in a much-applauded performance before the parents enjoyed food and conversation in the warm spring weather.
New upper school families and current ambassador families enjoyed a special welcome barbecue at the upper school campus on June 28. In addition to meeting, greeting and dining, the guests received a tour of the campus’ facilities, participated in a brief Q&A session and were given a tour of the Harker website.
More than a dozen Harker grads, current students and parents have teamed up to create an innovative new company called PenPalGirls (PPG).
This summer, PPG (www.PenPalGirls.com) announced the launch of its new line of collector-quality 18-inch dolls, couture doll clothes and unique accessories with the intention of introducing girls, ages eight and up, to the vibrant flavor of global cultures.
Founded by Harker parent and former Yahoo! executive Tina Pang Mayer, PPG draws inspiration from her experience as a Chinese immigrant growing up in America raising two multiracial daughters. “When my green-eyed daughter of Chinese, German, English and Irish descent told me that she and I were not Chinese because we didn’t speak the language, I felt a great need to introduce her to my customs and traditions,” Mayer said, explaining how she came up with the idea to share her heritage through the dolls, culturally-oriented accessories, and interactive letter-writing games and website content.
Mayer is joined in her PPG launch effort by her daughters Callie, grade 3, Pumpkin, grade 6, and their friends Agata Sorotokin, grade 10, Eugenia Sorotokin ’08, Nicholas Chuang, grade 12, Ester Teplistsky ’08, Andrew Swafford ’07 and Alex Loh ’05. Parents involved in the company are Peter Sorotokin, Eric Gonzales, Carolyn Lee, Larry Loh and Nina Chuang.
“Some wrote content or researched, others designed, did photography, business planning and production — our team is also a multicultural group, reflective of Harker’s entrepreneurial spirit,” noted Mayer.
In May, Youth Journalism International announced the winners of its yearly contest, and Harker came up big. Class of 2012 graduates Sanjana Baldwa, Michelle Lo, Priyanka Mody, Jennie Xu, Laura Yau and grade 12 student Samantha Hoffman took second place in team reporting in a news story for their article, “Harpa Symbolizes a Turning Point for Icelandic Culture: A Monumental Resurrection.”
Harker won three awards in the team reporting feature story category, taking first place for a story by Michelle Deng ’12 and Allison Kiang, grade 9, titled, “Celebrating Survivors: Tales of Two Women and Their Victories Against Breast Cancer,” and second place for the story “Great White at Monterey Bay Aquarium” by Alisha Mayor ’12 and Samar Malik, grade 10. Priyanka Mody and Meena Chetty, grade 10, won an honorable mention for their story, “Self-Acceptance: Conquering an Eating Disorder.”
In the profile category, Shilpa Nataraj ’12 earned an honorable mention for “Japanese Musician Shares Traditional Instruments and Music.” First place in the first-person essay category went to Nayeon Kim, who wrote “Musicality, The Beauty of Chamber Music.”
Harker journalism’s photo squad also took home several awards, including first place in sports photo, for a water polo photo titled “Desperate Save,” taken by Megan Prakash, grade 10. Class of 2012 graduates Devin Nguyen and Laura Yau tied for second place in sports photo, Nguyen for his “Varsity Football” photo and Yau for “Running the Ball,” also a football shot. Prakash also took second place in the news photo category for her shot, titled “Pull!”