![“[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)
Humans of Harker: Sandip Nirmel develops new hobbies
“I have a dog and his name is Captain. In some ways, I’m an only child, so he’s pretty much my brother. I pet him, take him on a walk, run, stuff like that, it really gives me perspective. His life is so simple, he only cares about food and play and if I’m getting stressed out, if I see my dog, I realize that there’s a lot more to life than just school,” Sandip Nirmel (12) said.
November 17, 2016
Although you wouldn’t know it from hearing Sandip Nirmel (12)’s deep announcer voice at school meetings, he wasn’t always a confident speaker.
While Sandip serves as the president of the student body, he has gone a long way to obtaining this position. In middle school, Sandip was somewhat introverted until he decided to start becoming more involved with student government.
“[Running for student government] was a good decision not because I won, but because it gave me more confidence in other activities knowing that I could present myself as a qualified person,” he said. “Student government was something I wanted to do because I’d always see things that I had like to change in the school, but I had never voiced my opinions, so running really gave me the opportunity to try that out.”
Sandip also joined Model United Nations as an effort to try new activities and has become an active member. His work within the Model United Nations community proved to benefit him in being a more effective communicator and public speaker.
His ambition towards finding new hobbies drove him to start golf at seven years old. His father first exposed him to the sport, and he gradually increased his time practicing. Sandip practices over the weekends and joins the Harker varsity golf team to play during the season.
Sandip’s time playing golf also expanded to help him develop a sense of how driven he was by his personal goals.
“I’m chasing my own goals, and I set those goals really high, so that’s what really drives me,” Sandip said. “If I set a goal to lower my scores in goal by a certain amount of strokes, I’m going to work hard until i can achieve that, and whether it leaves me winning tournaments or losing tournaments it’s not a big deal, but if I can meet my own goals, I’m doing pretty good.”
Other than golf, Sandip spends his time fostering his musical hobbies, including the piano, violin and trumpet. He started the piano, violin and trumpet at the ages of three, five and nine, respectively. Sandip chooses to avoid the competition aspect of music, and instead, plays these instruments for his own enjoyment.
“I’m really detail oriented, so getting the right notes means a lot to me,” Sandip said. “I play for my personal enrichment. Just doing that and also producing good music that just sounds good to yourself [makes me] feel pretty good about [myself].”
While balancing many school activities, Sandip hopes to use what he’s learned to overcome the struggles he faces.
“Obviously [there is] a lot of academic stress, [and] personal goals, and those are all real things, and whether or not I’m going to overcome it is through the same forward looking mentality that I’ve always had,” Sandip said. ”There’s some days where I get really frustrated, and getting frustrated is going to do anything for me, so I just have to power through it.”
This piece was originally published in the pages of The Winged Post on November 16, 2016. This article’s photo was updated on May 28, 2019.
