![“[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 begins speaker series
Dr. Lina Kim introduces the Research Mentorship Program at UC Santa Barbara. Dr. Kim spoke to students about the program as well as research in general.
January 14, 2016
Dr. Lina Kim, director of the Research Mentorship Program at UC Santa Barbara, spoke in the Nichols auditorium yesterday about the program, details on the application and research tips.
The UC Santa Barbara Research Mentorship Program is a six week, university-level research program open to 75 sophomores, juniors and exceptional freshmen with an emphasis on a variety of interdisciplinary projects combining the humanities, social sciences and STEM subjects.
“We are extremely interdisciplinary, and this is something that we are very well known for,” Dr. Kim said. “We love to collaborate; we think that collaboration and teamwork really springs up a lot of great ideas. Also, the environment is really conducive to doing some really cool research. We have a very layback campus, and we get a lot of grants funded because of our faculty members are inspired by the type of students we get.”
Introduced to the Research Mentorship Program due to her experience in research, outreach and teaching, Dr. Kim was invited to speak at the Upper School because of a connection with Joyce Huang (11) who attended the UC Santa Barbara program last summer.
Participants pair up with mentors, select a project from a list of cutting-edge topics and learn about research techniques, scientific writing and presentation skills.
The Research Mentorship Program is compatible with Harker’s science classes by challenging students who are passionate about science with high level research.
“I think [summer research programs and Harker’s classroom curriculum] are complementary in the sense that it gives students a place to exercise the muscles that they are growing in the classroom,” Chris Spenner, the research club advisor, said. “So you learn the fundamentals of science and that opens up doors that lets them do well in summer programs like this.”
The application for the program, which lasts from June 19 to July 30, is already open and closes on May 18.
