![Setter Emma Lee (9) sets the ball to the middle during the match against Pinewood on Sept. 12. “[I’m looking forward to] getting more skilled, learning more about my position and also becoming better friends with all of my teammates, Emma said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/DSC_4917-2-1200x795.jpg)
![“[Building nerf blasters] became this outlet of creativity for me that hasnt been matched by anything else. The process [of] making a build complete to your desire is such a painstakingly difficult process, but Ive had to learn from [the skills needed from] soldering to proper painting. Theres so many different options for everything, if you think about it, it exists. The best part is [that] if it doesnt exist, you can build it yourself, Ishaan Parate said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DSC_8149-900x604.jpg)
![“Animation just clicked in a way. I had been interested in art, but that felt different. [Animation] felt like it had something behind it, whereas previous things felt surface level. I wasnt making that crazy of things, but just the process of doing it was much more enjoyable, Carter Chadwick (22) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Screen-Shot-2022-08-16-at-9.44.08-AM-900x598.png)
![“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 its played such a major role in who Ive 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 Im [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)
![“[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)
![“Im 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 theres a lot of people that are really confident in what they do, and I really admire them. Everyones 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)
![“My slogan is ‘slow feet, don’t eat, and I’m hungry.’ You need to run fast to get where you are–you arent going to get those championships if you arent 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)
![“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)
Around 100 Upper School students are participating in national competitions used to determine the country’s representatives in various international Olympiads. These set of contests consist of the U.S. Physics Olympiad (USPhO), the U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad (USNCO), and the USA Biology Olympiad (USABO).
All the national competitions feature a first-round exam. In the U.S. Physics Team Olympiad and USABO, the top-scoring students are named semifinalists, and in the USNCO each school’s top two students advance to the next stage of competition.
Out of 32 Upper School students who took the first-round exam of the USAPhO, 15 were named semifinalists. In the USABO, 49 students from the Upper School participated in the first round and 18 have been chosen as semifinalists. The students who will represent the school in the second round of the USNCO are Ashvin Swaminathan (11) and Varun Mohan (10).
After a second round of testing, the contestants are reduced to 20 finalists for each competition, who attend a training camp to take an advanced course in their particular field of science. The physics students will go to the University of Maryland, chemistry students to the Colorado US Air Force Academy, and biology students to Purdue University. Winners of the national Olympiads qualify as American representatives in either the International Physics Olympiad (IPhO), International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO), and International Biology Olympiad (IBO). The US will send five students to the IPhO, and four to the ICho and IBO.
Lucy Cheng (12), a semifinalist in the USAPhO is thrilled with the chance of competing nationally, and believes preparing for the Olympiad has its academic benefits.
“I am honored to be given the opportunity to participate in the semifinalist round and potentially represent the US at IPhO,” she said. “Participating in the Olympiad has given me a chance to study physics on a level beyond the school curriculum.”
The school has reached some degree of success with the Olympiads in the past, with alumnus Andrew Zhou (10’) being selected for the 20-person stages of the 2010 and 2011 U.S. Physics Teams, and Albert Wu (12) reaching the same level in the 2011.
Pranav Sharma (11) is a semifinalist in the USABO, and expressed his satisfaction with his progress in the competition.
“Although I don’t expect to be one of the top 20 in America, even being a semifinalist, having the opportunity to be in that select number is amazing,” he said. “I know that a lot of people worked really hard over the course of this year at Biology and just being one of the top 600-700 is really humbling.”
Should the semifinalists be chosen as America’s representatives, they will be competing in the IPhO, IChO, and IBO – held in Estonia, Washington D.C., and Singapore, respectively.
