If you were to search up Alexander Young (12) on Harker Aquila, you would find an entire page of results, the articles topics ranging from virtual reality to the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. As a member of the Science Bowl team, the editor in chief of Harker’s Eclectic Literary Magazine (HELM) and the president of Philosophy Club, he has a wide range of interests that span multiple fields, even those that are less common in a typical high school

“I think if you actually get to know him better, you realize the depth of his interests in less explored fields such as philosophy and writing,” Derek Yen (‘18), a close friend of Alexander’s, said. “He has a great intellectual breadth that is perhaps not immediately obvious, but through many, many conversations with him arguing about topics in philosophy or the nature of art itself and the composition of poetry, you get to realize how much he knows about these things on top of the immense knowledge he displays for chemistry and biology.”

The knowledge he has of biology in particular ties into another passion of his: botany. In his spare time, he has been growing carnivorous plants and orchids for fun since fifth grade. While he spends about an hour or two a week taking care of his plants, he spends even more time looking at them or finding spiders for the carnivorous plants to eat. The time spent on them is worth it to him.

“I think it’s like taking care of a pet, so giving yourself that responsibility is a worthwhile pursuit.” Alexander said. “You see them grow and develop new traps or pitchers or leaves. It’s rewarding.”

His sense of responsibility to his plants and his determination to take care of them reflect his belief in the importance of dedication in the pursuit of a hobby, whether that be pondering philosophical questions about whether a hot dog is a sandwich or tending to pet carnivorous plants.

“I think everyone needs a hobby, something that they’re interested in and that they invest themselves into, and I think that it’s a process of dedicating yourself to learning about and creating something. I think that’s a worthwhile pursuit to have,” he said.

Alexander follows his philosophy about how to live life. He has hobbies in abundance and is passionate about many of them. In fact, passion is a part of his personality that one can’t help but notice when talking to him.

“He’s very passionate, and whenever you’re around him, you can feel the passion he has for his favorite subjects such as philosophy, biology and writing. And the other thing about him is he’s a good personality to be around because he’s always active in discussion,” Rishab Parthasarathy (9) said, crediting Alexander with being a major influence on him. “He’s just very passionate, and he’ll always be willing to talk to you about what he’s passionate about, especially biology.”

His observable exuding passion is a result of the philosophy he lives his life by.

“I have certain passions that I sort of invest myself significantly in. Having passions is an important thing, to live life in a very substantive manner and to be an interesting person because it’s a pretty terrible fate to be boring,” he said.