![“[Building nerf blasters] became this outlet of creativity for me that hasn't been matched by anything else. The process [of] making a build complete to your desire is such a painstakingly difficult process, but I've had to learn from [the skills needed from] soldering to proper painting. There's so many different options for everything, if you think about it, it exists. The best part is [that] if it doesn't exist, you can build it yourself," Ishaan Parate said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DSC_8149-900x604.jpg)
![“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 it's played such a major role in who I've 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 I'm [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)
![“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)
![“My slogan is ‘slow feet, don’t eat, and I’m hungry.’ You need to run fast to get where you are–you aren't going to get those championships if you aren't 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)
![“[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)
![“I'm 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 there's a lot of people that are really confident in what they do, and I really admire them. Everyone's 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)
Women in Computer Science
CollegeBoard survey reveals low numbers of females taking AP Computer Science exam
Courtesy of the Office of Communications
Alumnus Surbhi Sarna (class of ’03) is the founder of nVision Medical, a medical company targeting ovarian cancer. The 28-year-old took a computer science course at the Upper School.
A recent CollegeBoard survey revealed a public static void of females in three different states among the 30,000 students worldwide who took the AP Computer Science exam.
The trend doesn’t stop there, though. In the 47 states where girls can take the AP Computer Science exam, the percentage of females who actually did ranged from 4 percent to 29 percent.
To this day, women struggle to be professionally established in technology and engineering, holding a mere quarter of available jobs in the field.
A main reason for this trend lies in the lack of academic and educational courses involving computer science within public schools across the nation. In fact, 15 percent of the total 15,000 high schools in the United States offer AP Computer Science. Of this 15 percent, private schools make a large portion, according to EducationWeek.org.
Female students involved in computer science, including senior Preethi Periyakoil, believe that computer science at the Upper School has provided a unique experience in helping her find her passion.
“I love how Harker has so many classes that other schools have never even heard of…the advanced topics can only be found here,” Preethi said. “I don’t think these courses are available in most other high school. Because I got a big more exposure to the field via Harker, I decided to pursue computer science.”
Senior Christine Lee, who is also actively involved in computer science, believes that this field has re-evaluated gender roles.
“I think it’s a field where women can be less concerned about oppression, and that allows them to reach their fullest potentials,” Christine said.
On the other hand, not all schools around the world have an equal distribution of girls in the computer science classes.
In the Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools of Kazakhstan, students are provided with the IT, or Introduction to Computer Science, course, which covers website design, cloud computing, database programming, and multimedia editing. The class not only teaches how to create such tools, but also how to analyze their ethical and social impact.
“Eighteen students take the class on a standard level, while 21 have it on Higher Level. Hence 39 out of 44 students take the course. The remainder of five are girls,” said Assiya Utzhanova, a senior at the school.
Despite this shortcoming in Kazakhstan, Assiya feels that this trend is rapidly changing and girls in her generation are increasingly becoming involved in this field.
“However, there are around 22 girls in my grade, and 17 have the IT subject on their agenda. Even if computer science is not usually considered to be a course for girls, in my case evaluating the IT impact on society makes it more open for girls,” she said.
In order to further expand female involvement on a global front, the College Board is attempting increase availability of computer courses in several academic curricula and collaborating with national educational organizations.
This piece was originally published in the pages of the Winged Post on March 12, 2014.
Sindhu Ravuri (12) is the Editor-in-Chief of the upcoming long form magazine. She served as the Winged Post Business Editor her sophomore year and Global...