![“[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)
Research Club Hosts First Introductory Workshop
Andrew Jin (12), president of Research Club, goes through a presentation on selecting a research topic. Research Club had an informational meeting after school today, where it went over the protocols for participating the in Synopsys Science Fair in March.
Research Club held its first workshop for underclassmen after school today, in an effort to start preparations for the upcoming Synopsys Science Fair on March 11.
The meeting today was conducted mainly for freshmen and sophomores interested in pursuing research projects. Research Club officers presented information about how the general science research process works, along with several tips for finding good project ideas, to over fifty students.
The club also discussed procedures for working in Open Lab, the research facility the school offers that gives students access to many resources normally present in a university lab.
Many underclassmen who attended found the session informative.
“It was a great learning experience for the underclassmen that are newer to research to gain some insight into how to craft a novel yet realistic research project,” Rajiv Movva (9) said.
Adele Li (11), who heads publicity and outreach for the club, believes that more workshops and informational meetings like this will help underclassmen interested in research.
“I think the workshops Research Club is doing will really help freshmen and sophomores who are interested in Synopsys but have limited ideas of what they wish to do,” Adele said. “I think that the club is expanding this year in terms of its cohesive mentoring program and how this program will help students become more successful scientists not with the scope of their projects but with their scientific accuracy and credibility.”
The mentoring program offered by the club is one of its main objectives for the year. To help assist freshmen and sophomores interested in the field, Research Club pairs underclassmen with upperclassmen based on the scientific subject of interest.
In addition, the club hosts a speaker series, bringing in subject experts and other professionals to discuss their research. Speakers include professors from universities as well as research scientists from pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
Chris Spenner, who teaches Physics and advises the club, outlined the goals of Research Club.
“We have been pretty careful to define our goals, both in maintaining what we have done well in previous years, especially as far as mentoring younger students for Synopsys, but also expanding our reach to the middle school,” Spenner said.
He added that the club would continue “providing more and more services throughout the year, both for students doing projects and the general Harker audience.”
Andrew Jin (12), president of the club, believes that Research Club can help assuage fears students might have about research.
“Research is really difficult and it has a really steep learning curve to get started and it’s often quite intimidating and daunting for the younger students to start,” Andrew said. “Research Club is really this big support system to guide younger student step by step through the research process.”
The club plans to have its mentoring program finalized by next week, in which case underclassmen will start working with their mentors on their projects from the week after. With many mentors and participants involved, Research Club plans to scale the sizes of its activities this year.
Vedant Thyagaraj is the Science & Technology Editor for Harker Aquila. He is currently a senior and has been on staff for the past three years. Vedant...