![“[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)
Annual John Near and Mitra Family scholar grant ceremony honors eight seniors
Scholars Amy Jin (12), Derek Yen (12), Matthew Lee (12), Serena Lu (12), Jacqueline He (12) and Alan Jiang (12) pose for a group photo with their research mentors on the Nichols Auditorium stage. As scholars Andrew Semenza (12) and Emily Chen (12) were unable to attend the event, Derek read Andrew’s speech for the ceremony, while Emily sent in a video recording of her speech to be played at today’s event.
April 23, 2018
The annual John Near Endowment and Mitra Family Endowment Scholar Grant reception recognized eight seniors for their work on their individual, year-long research papers today in Nichols Auditorium from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Students had the chance to speak for a few minutes, discussing the premise of their topic, which either covered U.S. history or global matters.
The reception began with light refreshments in the rotunda for an hour. History department chair Donna Gilbert opened the ceremony with an addressing speech to the mentors, librarian Lauri Vaughan, Library Director Sue Smith and the scholars, thanking the students for their determination and love of learning throughout the entire process of their projects.
“As you all have discovered this year, finding truth is not simple and required patience, persistence and partnership,” Gilbert said in her speech. “Tonight, we celebrate your passions and the persistence it took for each of you to craft these extraordinary papers. We also celebrate partnership. You did not undertake this journey alone.”
The John Near Endowment scholars individually expressed their gratitude to their mentors, the library department and their fellow peers through short speeches. Amy Jin (12) and her mentor history teacher Mark Janda began the speeches, followed by Matthew Lee (12) and his mentor, history teacher Byron Stevens.
“I think it’s really important to give these very promising young scholars the opportunity to actually do scholarship in high school,” Stevens said. “We have a lot of great courses and we have a lot of opportunities for kids to do great work within their courses, but it’s not scholarship in the sense that it’s not independent.”
Senior Derek Yen and his mentor history teacher Julie Wheeler also thanked the history department for their guidance. Since scholar Andrew Semenza (12), mentored by history teacher Katy Rees, could not attend the event, Derek read his speech aloud to the audience.
Following the John Near speeches, the Mitra Family scholar speeches began with Emily Chen (12), who shared her speech with the audience through a video recording. Her mentors were Vaughan and history teacher Damon Halback. Jacqueline He (12) and her mentor Spanish teacher Isabel Garcia, along with Alan Jiang (12) and his mentor psychology teacher Kelly Horan, delivered the next speeches. Serena Lu (12) gave the last scholar speech with her mentors history teachers Andrea Milius and Roxana Pianko.
“I think for a long time, I’ve always seen the Near and Mitra programs as the pinnacle of humanities at Harker and I really wanted to be apart of that, but I also thought that it would give me a structured opportunity to explore issues that I wanted to do more research in but never had the time to do so,” Serena said.
Executive Director of Advancement Joe Rosenthal then gathered the students together to have them autograph their own papers, which will soon be sent to the John Near family and the Mitra family with commemorative pens.
To view this year’s John Near and Mitra scholar papers, visit the library portal here.
