For Antony Sagayaraj (12), learning is a never-ending adventure. Currently an active member of the Harker science scene and a participant in Synopsys, Siemens and a variety of other research competitions, Antony plans to continue the journey of discovery and curiosity he’s enjoyed through high school and beyond.

“I would have thought by now that I would have gotten tired of school, but I’m ready for four more years of it- four more years I’m very excited about, in fact,” he said. “I really want to go to graduate school and probably medical school as well, and that’s already ten more years of academia that I really want to sign myself up for.”

However, Antony only began to enjoy his academic experience at Harker during his second year of high school; prior to sophomore year, he saw school as nothing more than a mundane, uninteresting daily routine. That all changed when Antony decided to try out physics teacher Chris Spenner’s Research Methods course, the experience of which he cites as the moment that changed his perspective on learning and science.

“[Spenner] often uses the analogy of him being the guide of the forest who showed me the general trail, but who was also only able to point out to me the unexplored future in the distance,” he said. “I learned that you can get really into a subject by allowing yourself to see a lot farther than just what’s being taught. Actually ask questions and remember to contextualize- what does this actually mean? What is this important for?”

The first sparks of renewed interest in education for Antony were ignited when he was given the opportunity to start his own independent research project for Spenner’s class. Since then, Antony has grown to love exploring the relationships between the various branches of science.

“The pyramid of the sciences starts off with mathematics and somehow, and physics arises from that- and from that, chemistry and then biology and then psychology up here, which is still a very gray area because we don’t even know much about it. All these areas combine to form the world that we live in,” he said. “If people were to care more about how we investigate these fields and were to imagine what we could solve just with the data that we have at hand—if you were to just look at some correlations or do a little bit of statistical analysis on this—you could find out so much that’s useful.”

Antony’s first forays into the world of science began in eighth grade, when his parents pushed him into participating in Synopsys— which he ended up doing, but by “purposely [submitting] a terrible research proposal so I wouldn’t get accepted.” Though Antony did not participate in Synopsys his freshman year, his interest in learning more about protein behavior and the viability of hair as a fertilizer led him to submit his Research Methods independent project not only to Synopsys, but to Intel and Siemens as well.

“During that experience, I happened to meet a mentor, UCSC professor Dr. Chris Krohn, who was willing to guide me through the final stages of the process. He was really important to me because we’re still in touch- we’ll just talk as friends now, and I would say my love for that type of independent work started in that summer internship because he was very casual and very hands-off about it,” he said. “We would have arguments and discussions about the findings and the data as if I was already in the field of academia. To this day, I continue to ask him for advice.”

Many of Antony’s other current interests, such as playing the oboe and participating in Capoeira sessions, also sprouted as unexpected outlets of self-expression from Antony’s attempts to fulfill his parents’ wishes and expectations for him. After starting the oboe in seventh grade and Capoeira in ninth grade, Antony has developed a strong passion for both of these activities since.

“I like both of these things not just because I’ve done them for so long now, it’s more that I’ve gotten up to a point with them in my skill that I can be proud of what I’m doing,” he said. “Initially, I took Capoeira just for the P.E. credit, because it seemed like the easiest option, and oboe, because my parents told me to- but honestly, it’s mostly self-driven now, and that has turned those activities into things that are very important to me.”

Upon reflecting on his high school experience, Antony concluded that his willingness to step out of his comfort zone and accept challenges with an open mind was the most significant contribution to his growth and development as both a student and a person.

“I’m not athletic and I hate dance and physical activity, yet I enter an environment where all those things are there and I actually don’t hate it because the air of the space is just really great,” he said. “You get to have a lot of fun when you just allow yourself to relax.”