Sitting on picnic benches in the upper school quad, Robert “Bobby” Bloomquist’s (12) face lights up as he enthusiastically talks about water polo.

Bobby didn’t always play water polo. He actually started his athletic career with flag football and swimming, but in the summer before sixth grade, he found a sport that seemed to combine the two: water polo. Since then, he’s found himself falling in love with the sport, and it has come to occupy a central role in his life throughout high school.

“Deciding to play water polo in sixth grade was one of my most important decisions. If I hadn’t started playing then, a lot of my friends would be different and I wouldn’t be who I am right now,” Bobby said. “I’m a lot more outgoing due to water polo, [and] I feel like I have a lot more authority and I feel like I’m a lot more friendly, especially with underclassmen.”

With relentless dedication and hard work, Bobby improved as a polo player and joined the upper school varsity team as an underclassman. He and his team then went on to win the league championships in sophomore year, a particular moment of pride for Bobby.

Bobby was inspired by his love for water polo to take on more leadership roles in the team, and as a senior in high school this year, he is the co-captain of the water polo team.

Though he is shy and quiet by nature, Bobby continued to take on leadership roles in high school outside of water polo as well. He ran for honor council and was elected to office in his junior year, and he has served as a representative for the class of 2019 ever since.

“I wanted to contribute to Harker after everything they’ve given me, so I thought I could foster honor and try to be a role model for my peers,” he said. “I already was kinda a role model in some ways and I felt like I could do more.”

Bobby’s desire to “do more” extends beyond his extracurriculars and into his academic commitments as well. Though he has had to learn how to juggle school work with his many extracurriculars, Bobby always finds time to dive deeper into his education.

“He always stick to whatever problem he was facing until he could master it, and it didn’t necessarily come easy to him right away, but over time he just had a high enough standard for his own learning that he got it as well as anybody else in the class,” Chris Spenner, Bobby’s Physics C teacher, said.

Bobby applies this mentality of intellectual curiosity not just to the subjects that he studies in the classroom but also to the interests that he pursues outside of the classroom. Whatever it is that he is doing, Bobby gives it his all.

“I feel like I’m a jack of all trades,” he said. “I enjoy STEM and also humanities, and although I hate writing essays, I enjoy history and English—I find them all really interesting. Physics is also really interesting, and I love water polo. And during lunch I go play frisbee or ping pong. I like to have a good time, but when I work, I work a lot.”

For instance, when Bobby was in elementary school, his dad took him to fly remote control planes that he had made out of foam. Though it’s been a while since he last worked with foam planes, this early childhood experience recently inspired Bobby to build his own plane and improve upon the design, again demonstrating his ability to find interests all across the board.

“Just learning about the different devices that go inside remote control planes and learning how to fly them, by crushing them a bunch of times, it was really fun for me,” Bobby said. “I haven’t been able to do anything like that again until last summer when I actually built my own remote control plane. I got a sponsorship from a solar powered company to put their panels on my plane so I can have a semi autonomous flying drone.”

In the time that he isn’t working on physics or plans, Bobby loves to hang out with his family and friends. As a family oriented person, Bobby is very close to his older brother who has helped shape who Bobby is today.

“Most of my life has been following the footsteps of my brother,” he said. “A lot of my decisions have been shaped around him. I’m a four years younger version as him. I’ve taken the same foreign language, played polo, we are really similar.

Bobby also draws many of his values from his Korean heritage. He takes yearly visits South Korea, where half his extended family lives, and has explored much of the country, from climbing up volcanoes to petting chickens in the farmlands to throwing rocks at North Korea from the demilitarized zone. In fact, most of his fondest memories have been formed during his trips to Korea.

“Korea has shaped me a lot [with] a lot of Asian values like humility—I’m pretty humble, yeah I know, ironic,” he said, chuckling. “I feel like exploring Korea has brought out the creative and adventurous side of me.”

Bobby loves to venture into the natural world, and though finding time to explore nature has become a challenge with his busy schedule, Bobby makes the most of the time that he can enjoy in nature.

“I really like the stillness and that it’s away from city life, like cars and people,” he said. “It’s nice to get in touch with yourself and nature.”

While Bobby takes time to get in touch with himself, he also values the connections that he has formed with others, drawing encouragement to succeed from the support of his friends and family.

“With everything I do, I’m supported by a lot of people—my parents, my brother and also my friends—and I’m really supported with whatever I try,” he said. “When I succeed and make their support worth it, [that’s] what makes it worth it for me.”

Bobby himself strives to be a good son, brother and, above all, friend. Whether it be on the water polo team or at a lunch table with friends, Bobby’s friends appreciates his approachability and friendly nature, both of which are intrinsic to Bobby’s character.

“He’s really able to connect with his teammates even though we have a variety of different people, and he’s able to speak with anybody at anytime,” senior Andrew Chang, Bobby’s teammate and friend, said. “If you have any problems, you could always go to Bobby for help.”

Whether they are playing ping pong or doing homework, they always have a good time together.

“He just makes everything fun, whatever we are doing he brightens up, and he always makes you feel involved and that you are a part of it,” Ashwin Reddy (12), one of Bobby’s friends, said.

When asked about Bobby, his family and friends always comment on his sense of humor.

“He doesn’t look like it but he’s really funny. He’s always cracking jokes around the house, and he’s the spice of the family. Life without him would be like mochi without the red bean inside,” Dr. Bloomquist said.

Even though Bobby still isn’t certain about his future, he knows what type of impact he wants to make. He believes in following his passions while also giving back to his community.

“Whatever I do I want to make sure I’m helping people and helping society. I’m planning on going into some computer science kind of field and I feel a lot of companies are a detriment to society, like Facebook with their scandals. I very much disagree with that, so I’m trying to find something that would fit me and helping other people while following my passions,” he said.