![“[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: Swapnil Garg branches beyond math
!["[In high school,] my new group of friends was very different from anything previously. In middle school, all we did was do math competitions and play cards," Swapnil Garg (12) said. "But in ninth grade, nobody did that—during lunch, you had to sit at a table and have discussions. I had to learn to be able to be more intellectual, and to provide more substance in my thinking abilities relating to things that were not just math. I was very scared of, for example, English class."](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/SwapnilGarg-DY-706x900.jpg)
“[In high school,] my new group of friends was very different from anything previously. In middle school, all we did was do math competitions and play cards,” Swapnil Garg (12) said. “But in ninth grade, nobody did that—during lunch, you had to sit at a table and have discussions. I had to learn to be able to be more intellectual, and to provide more substance in my thinking abilities relating to things that were not just math. I was very scared of, for example, English class.”
May 2, 2018
Senior Swapnil Garg is perhaps best known for his mathematical abilities. An avid participant in math olympiads and other competitions, Swapnil has been competing since sixth grade.
“At the beginning of sixth grade I was pretty bad, but I got really good really fast,” Swapnil said.
Swapnil is recognized throughout the student body for his intense skill in math, as evidenced by his proclivity for wearing t-shirts distributed at math competitions.
“He’s really the Conor McGregor of math, you know,” said Adriano Hernandez (12), Swapnil’s friend. “He’s got the brilliance but also the attitude to really go the distance, unlike anyone else I know.”
Over seven years of participating in math competitions, Swapnil has amassed a variety of distinctions: MathCounts national champion in 8th grade, a perfect USAMO index in junior year, a gold medal in the Romanian Masters of Mathematics as a representative of the United States. But upon coming to Harker, Swapnil felt the culture clash of a community that pursues excellence in all subjects, including non-math fields.
“My new group of friends was very different from anything previously. In middle school, all we did was do math competitions and play cards,” Swapnil said. “But in ninth grade, nobody did that—during lunch, you had to sit at a table and have discussions. I had to learn to be able to be more intellectual, and to provide more substance in my thinking abilities relating to things that were not just math. I was very scared of, for example, English class.”
One of Swapnil’s largest areas of growth throughout high school has been his expansion into other fields of knowledge. Swapnil believes that being introduced to Quiz Bowl specifically has helped him appreciate other subjects. In Quiz Bowl, competitors are asked questions on a diverse field of subjects, from art to history to science. Consequently, participants must have a command of diverse kinds of language to be competitive. Nowadays, Swapnil’s achievements reflect his diverse interests — he’s a USA Physics Olympiad winner, a member of the USA International Linguistics Team and a USA Computing Olympiad finalist.
“Swapnil has an astounding breadth of knowledge. He’s in Quiz Bowl, Science Bowl, and he’s doing mathematics. He has a staggering amount of knowledge,” Praveen Batra (12), Swapnil’s friend, said. “I absolutely believe that Swapnil embodies the Conor McGregor attitude in that he refuses to allow himself to be boxed in. He’s not boxed in by math; he took Modern Physics, he’s taking Nanoscience with me, he studies humanities, he studies Spanish, he does programming—he’s got so many different things he’s pursuing. I’m really curious to see what he ends up focusing on and how he intends to synthesize all these things together ultimately in his work.”
This is not to say that Swapnil’s skill at math is any the less. The mere utterance of his name evokes fear and awe amongst those in the math competition community.
“As far as I can tell, most people hear about Swapnil in the form of stories/social media/what he says before actually knowing what he’s like. He’s a legend first and then a person second (but the person definitely doesn’t disappoint),” Andrew Lin, a senior at Lynbrook High School who is a friend of Swapnil from math competitions, wrote through a Facebook Messenger interview.
Ultimately, Swapnil still believes he will pursue math in college—but other possibilities have entered his ken.
“I want to go into something that could cause me to appear in a Quiz Bowl question. It’s a measure of fame of some kind,” Swapnil said. “I think the most righteous thing to do would be to go into academia and become some kind of researcher. But I feel like saying that I want to be a mathematician is kind of an answer that avoids having to think too much. So in that regard I don’t really know. But I’m sure that, whatever I do, I’ll enjoy it.”
Garg Family • Aug 23, 2019 at 2:55 pm
Well done Swapnil . We are very proud of you !!