Students begin to pour into Nichols 312 and 314 as office hours ends at around 3:40 p.m., creating a buzz of action and energy throughout the rooms in anticipation of the upcoming weekly robotics meeting. The fervor soon dies down and all eyes look up as Finn Frankis (12) calmly strolls up to the front in a plain gray v-neck and light blue jeans. Smiles break out across the crowd, from the nervous newcomers to the relaxed upperclassmen, in response to the wide grin on Finn’s face as he begins this Thursday’s robotics training meeting with a cheery “Hey, everyone!” 

As the executive president of the Harker Robotics Team, Finn oversees the team’s various divisions and guides them towards the team’s vision. His journey to his current position began three years ago, when he was not the seasoned veteran standing in front of the room but the eager freshman ready to get started. 

Even in his first year, Finn’s enthusiasm for robotics was palpable: in fact, as upper school computer science department chair and robotics team advisor Dr. Eric Nelson recalls, his presence was quite noticeable in the team records. 

“[I was] looking at logs and rosters and trips and permission forms, and I found out that in his freshman year, [Finn] went to every single solitary robotics event that required a permission form,” Dr. Nelson said. “I didn’t even manage that that year, so he outdid me in terms of going to everything robotics did, and he’s been doing that ever since.”

Finn has been a part of the electrical and software subteams in the past, often applying his skills and effort into filling any gaps or helping out wherever needed to make the biggest impact on the team. Now, though he laments “being out of the action” a little, Finn appreciates the ability to implement some of his ideas and vision in his administrative role. 

“We’re trying to figure out how to do as well as possible without sacrificing giving the most people possible the experience of learning robotics, so trying to find that careful balance between striving to win but also to teach,” Finn said. “I kind of believe in, to some extent, motivating ourselves by that win, but for example, if we lose or do poorly, not letting that get us down.”

Setting up milestones for the team reflects Finn’s own tendency to set concrete goals for himself, which he has found to be an effective strategy to complete tasks and responsibilities. 

“Personally I’m very goal-oriented; that’s sort of the overall outlook I would use to describe myself. I certainly do strive, when I can define concrete goals in something I’m working on, whether it’s homework or more complex things like a personal project that I’m trying to achieve,” Finn said.

Hari Bhimaraju (11), the operational president for the robotics team, has worked with Finn closely this year as a part of robotics and noted Finn’s humorous nature as an important, if surprising, quality. 

“He’s hilarious, and I think that [most] don’t necessarily associate that with Finn. He’s really, really funny, and I think it’s not intentional, which makes it even funnier,” Hari said. “He’ll be very honest in a situation or use a very descriptive word for how he’s feeling … and I feel like just his openness and descriptiveness [make him] funnier.” 

Along with the many thrills of teamwork in robotics, Finn’s passion for physics and computer science was one of the main reasons for his interest in the activity. Outside of robotics, Finn’s academic interests have motivated him to take advanced computer science courses and take on the role of a problem leader on the upper school United States Association of Young Physicist’s Tournament (USAYPT) team. 

“My favorite thing is having a problem, and then working out a solution on paper, and then coding up an algorithm to try and solve it potentially,” Finn said.

Simar Bajaj (12), a close friend who met Finn in their Study of Theater Arts class in freshman year, noted the effort Finn pours into all of his academic endeavors. 

“While his main passion might be in robotics, he takes his love and his passion and puts his 100% into everything, and that’s what makes him distinctive,” Simar said. 

Dr. Nelson, who has also taught Finn in two ATCS courses as well as AP Physics C this year, similarly emphasized Finn’s ability to produce “absolutely phenomenal work” based on his own initiative. Nevertheless, the story that stands out most to him was not one of the routine instances where Finn surpassed every expectation academically but instead what he did during the announcement of alliance selections at the end of the Capital City Classic robotics competition in October. 

“Finn lost his voice, and you do your selections by going down in the field by announcing them to a crowd of hundreds of people, so Finn handed that over to somebody else. Somebody else got the spotlight, and he didn’t hesitate at all,” Dr. Nelson said. “I don’t know of too many other people who would be willing to give up that public position of ‘This is my team, and I’m in charge, and I don’t care if all I can do is croak out a whisper, I’m going to do it.’” 

Even outside of academics, Finn has found another passion in running in the great outdoors, along with other modes of staying active including casual boxing, which he has found to be a meditative experience that helps him reflect and introspect.

“What running means to me [is] an escape from my STEM-and-CS-driven life to clear my mind to a more primal state,” Finn said. “I run to put into perspective my stresses and keep my mind clear for uninterrupted thinking and brainstorming.”

Finn’s compassion, infused with the enthusiasm he brings to everything he does, is what Simar recalls as being the primary factor that led to the development of their friendship in their theater class.

“He put his heart on the line for that class and did everything to the fullest extent. I think there’s something that I was just drawn to with Finn, because he’s just so genuine and so wholesome,” Simar said. “You see him, you smile. He’s one of the few people that is just unequivocally good.”

Some might attribute his natural focus on kindness, as Finn supposed with a chuckle, to his time in Canada, where he lived from the age of two until moving to California just days before his freshman year began. But at the end of the day, it comes down to how Finn wants to impact the people in his life. 

“I want to be the best person I can to people in terms of compassion and kindness. I’m not sure where it really comes from — I guess my identity, ever since I moved here, has been ‘the Canadian,’ so there’s always that stereotype where I have to be super nice to everyone and I have to apologize for everything,” Finn said. “But it really does hurt me if I make someone feel bad. I’d much rather them be more positive or happy because of something I’ve done.”