Alexa Gross ’17, who just graduated from Wellesley College with a double major in studio art and neuroscience, was awarded the senior prize in studio art with a series of multimedia pieces that “explore themes of intergenerational memory, relationships, and identity through a scientific lens,” her statement on the exhibition reads. Drawing on the experiences of her mother and grandmother, Gross brought together printmaking, photography and drawing, using materials such as string, used gloves and a video she filmed of herself, her mother and her grandmother discussing their lives while taking apart the gloves that were used in the exhibit.
Late last month, Misha Ivkov ‘17 received the Mark Stehlik Alumni Undergraduate Impact Scholarship from the Carnegie Mellon University School of Computer Science (SCS), which “recognizes and supports SCS undergraduates whose drive for excellence extends beyond the classroom,” according to the CMU SCS website. The scholarship is awarded to students as they approach the end of their undergraduate career. “Awardees have demonstrated a desire to make a difference in SCS, the field of computer science and the world around them,” a news story posted on the website states.
According to the story, Ivkov’s drive was applied not only to his own studies but to teaching other students, for which he was awarded the Alan J. Perlis Undergraduate Student Teaching Award. He has served as a teacher’s assistant in three classes and co-developed a student-taught class to help students give technical interviews.
Last weekend, upper school economics teacher Sam Lepler caught up with several Harker alumni during a trip to Philadelphia. While visiting family in Pennsylvania, Lepler put out a call to alumni in the area to see if they would like to meet. Within hours, he was sitting down to dinner with Megan Cardosi ’18, David Feng ’20, Ria Ghandi ’17, Rashmi Iyer ’20, Kelly Shen ’19, Kevin Xu ’18 and Shaya Zarkesh ’18. “I just stepped out for a bit and they all came to meet,” said Lepler. “It was super fun seeing them all.”
The group chatted about life at the University of Pennsylvania and how it has changed a year into the COVID-19 pandemic. “They told me that it’s awesome to be on campus from January – last semester was fully remote – and that even though the classes remain virtual, they are enjoying life in the dorms or off-campus housing, joining the ski club, and diving into life at Penn,” said Lepler. “It was truly awesome to see alums from all of the last four years, and I was genuinely honored that so many came out on such short notice.”
On Sept. 25, CareerConnect held a Harker alumni panel via Zoom. Three alumni – Haley Tran ’17, Lucas Wang ’17 and Vignesh Panchanatham ’18 – talked about things that students should know before graduating high school. They discussed founding and joining clubs, finding summer opportunities, their college experiences and more. In addition, they answered many questions from students, giving insights into what to know before graduating high school and ways to learn more about topics professionally.
In all, the event was a success and gave students a chance to learn more about how to take advantage of all the opportunities Harker has to offer. “This event helped me learn more about the little niches in school and outside of school to do before graduating high school,” said Jessica Zhou, grade 10. “Fostering a connection with teachers in the subjects you are interested in can help you down the road when doing events or projects related to it and making sure to do what you enjoy is extremely important.”
Most eyes may have been on Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry during last weekend’s Ellie Mae Classic golf tournament, but Harker community members likely noticed another familiar name among the many competitors: recent graduate Colt McNealy.
McNealy, who will begin studies at Stanford in the fall, qualified for the event in late June at a Junior Tour of Northern California tournament, sneaking past three other players who were in contention for the spot. One of them was JTNC Player of the Year Thomas Hutchison.
The Ellie Mae Classic, held at TPC Stonebrae in Hayward, is a charity event that features professional and amateur golfers as well as star athletes from other sports. Colt’s brother, Maverick ’13, competed at last year’s Ellie Mae Classic but was unable to attend this year, as he was competing at the The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale in England.
Most eyes may have been on Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry during last weekend’s Ellie Mae Classic golf tournament, but Harker community members likely noticed another familiar name among the many competitors: recent graduate Colt McNealy.
McNealy, who will begin studies at Stanford in the fall, qualified for the event in late June at a Junior Tour of Northern California tournament, sneaking past three other players who were in contention for the spot. One of them was JTNC Player of the Year Thomas Hutchison.
The Ellie Mae Classic, held at TPC Stonebrae in Hayward, is a charity event that features professional and amateur golfers as well as star athletes from other sports. Colt’s brother, Maverick ’13, competed at last year’s Ellie Mae Classic but was unable to attend this year, as he was competing at the The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale in England.
Most eyes may have been on Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry during last weekend’s Ellie Mae Classic golf tournament, but Harker community members likely noticed another familiar name among the many competitors: recent graduate Colt McNealy.
McNealy, who will begin studies at Stanford in the fall, qualified for the event in late June at a Junior Tour of Northern California tournament, sneaking past three other players who were in contention for the spot. One of them was JTNC Player of the Year Thomas Hutchison.
The Ellie Mae Classic, held at TPC Stonebrae in Hayward, is a charity event that features professional and amateur golfers as well as star athletes from other sports. Colt’s brother, Maverick ’13, competed at last year’s Ellie Mae Classic but was unable to attend this year, as he was competing at the The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale in England.
Harker 2017 graduates Steven Cao, Divya Rajasekharan, Sandip Nirmel, Angela Kim, Andrew Rule, Kai-Siang Ang, David Zhu, Anuva Mittal, Amrita Singh and Albert Xu were named 2017 National Merit Scholarship Winners. Cao, Rajasekharan, Nirmel, Kim, Rule, Ang and Zhu were awarded National Merit $2,500 Scholarships, a one-time prize that can be put toward their studies at any accredited U.S. college or university. Mittal, Singh and Xu received college-sponsored Merit Scholarships, which provide an annual amount of between $500 and $2,000 for up to four years.
May 17 was a busy day for the 190 members of the Class of 2017, who attended the Alumni Induction Lunch at Nichols Hall, where they officially became Harker alumni and presented this year’s senior gift: a $2,000 donation to Harker’s advancement department. History teacher Damon Halback spoke at the event, wishing the departing seniors well in the coming years.
Several graduating seniors had their names inscribed on bricks that were later placed into the Senior Walk at Graduates’ Grove during this year’s Brick Ceremony, where math teacher Troy Thiele offered some kind and inspiring parting words to the soon-to-be graduates.
That afternoon, the seniors gathered with the juniors at the upper school campus quad for the baccalaureate ceremony, held each year to wish the seniors well in their future endeavors and welcome the juniors into their new roles as seniors. Economics teacher Sam Lepler was chosen by the students to be this year’s faculty baccalaureate speaker and senior Aditya Dhar also shared some parting words of wisdom with his classmates and the seniors-to-be. As a special surprise, former Harker teacher Ben Spencer-Cooke appeared to offer congratulations to the graduates.
The seniors who entered Harker as kindergartners then headed to the lower school campus to celebrate their time as Harker students at a very special Lifers Dinner, fittingly held at the campus where their Harker careers began.
The Class of 2017 arrived at the Mountain Winery on May 18 for an afternoon of celebration and bittersweet farewells. Valedictorian Kai Ang used his time at the podium to remind his classmates that “we are indebted to all who stood behind us, seen and unseen.” Keynote speaker Chris Malachowsky, co-founder of graphics technology company Nvidia, offered students advice based on three points: investment in oneself, confidence and responsibility. Finally, departing Head of School Chris Nikoloff gave his final graduation speech before exiting to serve as headmaster of The American School in Switzerland. Invoking Voltaire’s observation that “life is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats,” Nikoloff advised the audience to “find joy no matter where you are, to pay attention to those in the lifeboat next to you, to see that your circumstances do not necessarily dictate your attitude about those circumstances.”
Harker bid a heartfelt farewell to the Class of 2017 at today’s graduation ceremony, held at the beautiful Mountain Winery in Saratoga. As attendees filed into their seats, they were treated to music performed by the Harker Chamber Orchestra, directed by Chris Florio. As the ceremony began and the graduating seniors took their seats at the front of the stage, the orchestra launched into “Pomp and Circumstance.” Following the Carl Oser-led 2017 Graduation Chorus’ stirring rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” upper school division head Butch Keller welcomed the late-afternoon audience to the ceremony.
He welcomed this year’s valedictorian, Kai Ang, mentioning not just his academic achievements but also his character, including his work teaching piano to children with special needs. In his speech, Ang compared the journey he and his classmates had made to that of Odysseus, with the caveat that their journey had not lasted as long. Although the seniors’ achievements are remarkable, however, he reminded his classmates that much of their success was due to the support of their parents, teachers and “the tender roasting of our friends.”
“We are indebted to all who have stood behind us,” he said, “seen and unseen.”
After the applause from Ang’s speech subsided, the Graduation Chorus, directed by Susan Nace, sang “New Beginnings.” This year’s graduation keynote speaker was Nvidia co-founder Chris Malachowsky, who reminisced about visiting Harker earlier in the month, remarking about the dedication of the faculty, as well as the curiosity and accomplishments of its students.
Malachowsky offered graduated three points of advice, the first of which was investment. “Not the typical monetary kind of investment,” he cautioned, but investment in themselves. At college, he said, the graduates “should make it a priority to use your time to expand your horizons, both culturally and intellectually,” and take advantage of all the resources available, including special events, clubs and employment opportunities.
The second point was confidence, which would enable them to take chances and achieve more, adding that students should create an environment for themselves in which confidence can grow. “If you haven’t figured it out by now, life is a team sport. So surround yourself with people who will challenge and help you grow,” he said.
The final of Malachowsky’s three points was responsibility. “It’s your life to live, and you should be looking to fully take the reins of it as you move through these next phases of your lives,” he said. He stressed that the graduates had to take it upon themselves to improve the world around them. “If something is wrong, broken, inefficient, take some measure of responsibility and fix and improve it for everyone,” he said.
After Malachowsky congratulated the graduates and wished them success in their future endeavors, Christopher Nikoloff took the podium to address Harker’s senior class for the last time as head of school. Nikoloff, who will assume duties as headmaster of The American School in Switzerland later this year, once again promised to keep his remarks to one page of single-spaced size 12 font while also making no promises about the size of the margins.
In Nikoloff’s signature manner, he opened with some light humor, remarking that he and the Class of 2017 “are in fact graduating together, but I am sure that you are graduating with a higher GPA.”
Nikoloff shared with the audience his favorite quote from the philosopher Voltaire, starting with the first sentence: “Life is a shipwreck.”
“I know, very inspiring,” Nikoloff quipped. But despite the apparent darkness of Voltaire’s opening line, Nikoloff said he didn’t believe Voltaire was being a total pessimist. “In both life and shipwrecks, you both end up in places you had not anticipated,” he said. “For instance, how many of you knew you would be born?”
He then stated Voltaire’s thought in its entirety: “Life is a shipwreck. But we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.”
Voltaire, Nikoloff said, was reminding us to “find joy no matter where you are, to pay attention to those in the lifeboat next to you, to see that your circumstances do not necessarily dictate your attitude about those circumstances.”
As Nikoloff finished his remarks, former head of school and board of trustees chair Diana Nichols stepped up to the podium to thank Nikoloff and surprise him with an honorary diploma expressing Harker’s eternal gratitude for his years of service to the school.
The members of the Class of 2017 then walked to the stage one at a time to receive their diplomas from Nikoloff, as their friends and families cheered from the stands. After the final diploma had been handed out, assistant head of school Jennifer Gargano and Nikoloff said one more goodbye to the senior class as doves were released into the air.