![Setter Emma Lee (9) sets the ball to the middle during the match against Pinewood on Sept. 12. “[I’m looking forward to] getting more skilled, learning more about my position and also becoming better friends with all of my teammates, Emma said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/DSC_4917-2-1200x795.jpg)
![“[Building nerf blasters] became this outlet of creativity for me that hasnt been matched by anything else. The process [of] making a build complete to your desire is such a painstakingly difficult process, but Ive had to learn from [the skills needed from] soldering to proper painting. Theres so many different options for everything, if you think about it, it exists. The best part is [that] if it doesnt exist, you can build it yourself, Ishaan Parate said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DSC_8149-900x604.jpg)
![“Animation just clicked in a way. I had been interested in art, but that felt different. [Animation] felt like it had something behind it, whereas previous things felt surface level. I wasnt making that crazy of things, but just the process of doing it was much more enjoyable, Carter Chadwick (22) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Screen-Shot-2022-08-16-at-9.44.08-AM-900x598.png)
![“When I came into high school, I was ready to be a follower. But DECA was a game changer for me. It helped me overcome my fear of public speaking, and its played such a major role in who Ive become today. To be able to successfully lead a chapter of 150 students, an officer team and be one of the upperclassmen I once really admired is something Im [really] proud of,” Anvitha Tummala (21) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-25-at-9.50.05-AM-900x594.png)
![“[Volleyball has] taught me how to fall correctly, and another thing it taught is that you don’t have to be the best at something to be good at it. If you just hit the ball in a smart way, then it still scores points and you’re good at it. You could be a background player and still make a much bigger impact on the team than you would think,” Anya Gert (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AnnaGert_JinTuan_HoHPhotoEdited-600x900.jpeg)
![“Im not nearly there yet, but [my confidence has] definitely been getting better since I was pretty shy and timid coming into Harker my freshman year. I know that theres a lot of people that are really confident in what they do, and I really admire them. Everyones so driven and that has really pushed me to kind of try to find my own place in high school and be more confident,” Alyssa Huang (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AlyssaHuang_EmilyChen_HoHPhoto-900x749.jpeg)
![“My slogan is ‘slow feet, don’t eat, and I’m hungry.’ You need to run fast to get where you are–you arent going to get those championships if you arent fast,” Angel Cervantes (12) said. “I want to do well in school on my tests and in track and win championships for my team. I live by that, [and] I can do that anywhere: in the classroom or on the field.”](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/DSC5146-900x601.jpg)
![“I think getting up in the morning and having a sense of purpose [is exciting]. I think without a certain amount of drive, life is kind of obsolete and mundane, and I think having that every single day is what makes each day unique and kind of makes life exciting,” Neymika Jain (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Screen-Shot-2017-06-03-at-4.54.16-PM.png)
Harker hosts annual U.S. Invitational Young Physicists Tournament
Students from Rye Country Day school in Rye, New York present their findings at the United States Association for Young Physicists Tournament hosted at Harker this year. This was the last year this competition was held at Harker.
The Upper School hosted and won the annual international United States Association for Young Physicists Tournament (USAYPT), held Friday, Jan. 31, and Saturday, Feb. 1.
The tournament featured a range of schools from around the globe, including two teams from Tunisia, two teams from China, one team from the Republic of Georgia, and several teams from the United States. Seven students represented the Harker team: Captain Nitya Mani (11), Shreyas Parthasarathy (12), Elina Sendonaris (10), Nathan Dalal (11), Harry Xu (11), Vivek Bhardwaj (10) , and Sanil Rajput (10).
Throughout the course of the year, competing teams were asked to devise solutions to four physics problems. This year’s problems included designing and building a foucault pendulum to predict a geographic location, measuring the maximum height of a free-standing, roughly stable ball stack, explaining why the angle between the edges of a wake behind an object traveling on a surface of water is independent of the object, and developing a theory that predicts the spacing between magnet stacks of various quantities on a slender pole.
“Well, I think it was good for Harker to be able to show off a little bit,” Mark Brada, Upper School physics teacher and USAYPT Local Organizing Chair said, expressing sentiments of satisfaction in regards to hosting the tournament.
According to Brada, the tournament was modeled on a scientific conference. The competition was run with a debate-style format, in which opposing teams argued their proposed solutions to the four given problems in “Physics Fights.” Each team was judged by a preselected jury on scientific accuracy, analysis, and evidence. Four semifinalist teams were selected to compete for the final trophy, while the remaining teams presented posters on their work.
“Overall, it was fantastic. Harker has great facilities and a really great support staff to help a function like this come off well, so my experience has been very positive,” he said.
Nitya enjoyed the tournament because it was a blend of her two favorite activities: physics and debate.
“The purpose of the physics tournament is to foster interest in physics research, and it’s a way of presenting physics in a novel way by debating about it, which gives a better understanding. We’re thinking not only about our approach to a problem, but also about different approaches,” she said.
Tyler Kaye, a student at Rye Country Day School in Rye, New York, believes that the tournament not only offered students the chance to compete with other physicists, but also allowed them to “hang around with a bunch of kids who are interested in the same things they are.” He particularly enjoyed the Upper School’s cuisine.
“I’m wondering if they accept senior transfer applicants currently, or maybe I could just fly here for the lunch every once in a while. That [would] be fantastic,” he said.
Like Brada, Upper School physics teacher Miriam Allersma served as both a mentor for the Harker team and a member of the USAYPT board, which helped to coordinate the logistics of the event and made sure everything ran smoothly.
“I think that [the Harker team] did a great job. It’s always hard because there’s so many different things going on at school. But I think that students were into their projects as much as they could be. I think they prepared well and made good slides,” she said.
Harker team member Nathan Dalal (11) agreed with this opinion, believing that his team did “fantastically” and was able to articulate its arguments and oppose the other teams well.
“Using the knowledge we already had from our projects, we were able to find loopholes in the opposing teams’ arguments,” he said.
As of now, this is the last year Harker is expected to host the event.
Riya Godbole is the Lifestyle Editor of The Winged Post. She is a senior and has been part of the journalism program since her freshman year. Her favorite...
Anokhi Saklecha (12) is the Global Editor for the Winged Post. She has been in the journalism program for the past three years. She loves the creativity,...
