Tense seconds pass by after the judge restates an astronomy question, Harsh Deep (12) recalls. In contrast to their opponents, the faces of Harsh and his science bowl teammates are full of hope. Harsh describes his racing heartbeat and the adrenaline coursing through him as his thumb hovered over the green buzzer button. A buzz sounds, and opponent and teammate heads turn towards him. “A4,” the judge calls. Quickly, Harsh answers, “Venus.” With confirmation from the judges, Harsh’s teammates cheer him on with smiles and words of approval.

Since middle school, the buzzer-based competition of Science Bowl has remained Harsh’s longstanding interest. His love stems from his curiosity in scientific subjects, the competitive environment and most of all, the joy of teamwork.

“Everyone contributes and gives [each other] parts of the puzzle and helps solve it,” Harsh said. “You get more out of working with a team than you [do] working alone. It’s nice to see the development of ideas as people work with each other.”

Becoming knowledgeable about a variety of subjects and thinking fast on his feet while competing in Science Bowl, Harsh has gained many skills during his years of being on the team. Close friend William Zhao (12) recognizes the positive influence Science Bowl has had on Harsh.

“[Harsh is] really smart, but he’s still humble; that’s something that I find very impressive about him,” William said. “Analytically, I think he’s a good problem solver. He can think very deeply about a question and get you an answer, but he can also do that very quickly.”

Participating in Science Bowl has helped Harsh gain curiosity and polish his academic skills. He now looks to pass this positive impact on to future Science Bowl participants by mentoring middle schoolers.

“Being a good Science Bowl coach is something that I would want to be remembered for,” Harsh said. “[Science Bowl] had such a large influence on me and [I] could [also] have a large influence on a lot of younger kids especially having them going to STEM fields.”

Among all of the subjects covered in Science Bowl, the field of physics particularly stuck out to Harsh. After pursuing the topic further, Harsh’s interests expanded into aerospace engineering, a field involved with the designing of aircrafts and spacecrafts, and eventually, astronomy.

“It’s interesting to see the developments that humankind is making towards space exploration and [I’m] excited for the future of the field,” Harsh said. “I follow Starship, which is the [rocket] [SpaceX is] developing right now, [and] more recently in the news, the James Webb Space Telescope.”

While becoming inclined to learn about various specific science fields, Harsh also honed his love of exploration through Science Bowl. For him, the concept of the unknown drives him to look into the topic.

“[It’s] discomforting not knowing something,” Harsh said. “It’s like there’s a vacuum and you really want [to] fill that vacuum. Science Bowl helped me become more curious. Every time there was an issue or something I didn’t know, [the] coaches would instill this idea that you should try to search it up and try to learn more about fields.”

The amount of time and effort Harsh puts into his main activities stands out to others around him, especially activities involved in his favorite fields of science. In addition to Science Bowl, Harsh is involved in Horizon, a science research publication run by upper school students.

“Almost everything that [Harsh] does is related to physics, like [in] Science Bowl, and even in Horizon and astronomy,” longtime friend Arnav Jain (12) said. “[It’s] something I’ve definitely come to admire.”

By looking more into unfamiliar topics, Harsh is able to explain the new concepts he has learned to others. Dr. Eric Nelson, who has taught Harsh in numerous classes since his sophomore year, recognizes both the explorative and curious sides of Harsh.

“[Harsh] is well-versed at being able to take complex concepts and [write] them in simple and direct terms,” Dr. Nelson said. “When he talks to me, it’s like listening to a college professor rather than a student. He’s always investigatory, interested in the big questions; Harsh has got the curiosity and sense of wonder of a child and he hasn’t lost it.”

Harsh’s curiosity drives him to explore and try new hobbies outside of science. Outside of science, Harsh enjoys cooking. His interest grew over the pandemic with one of his culinary experiments: a gnocchi recipe. While Harsh is science-driven academically, the explorative aspect of science expands into his interest in cooking.

“I [like the] explorative aspect of cooking,” Harsh said. “I like the freedom that [it] gives you; you’re not really bound by any rules. You can taste something and see how it tastes, if you need more salt or something. It’s very qualitative.”

Going off the beaten path and having an inclination to look into the unknown means putting in more effort to achieve the end goal. Through his journey of high school, Harsh has learned to see the effects of trying something new as positive, mindset-changing experiences.

“Even if you’re bad initially, everyone started somewhere, and over time, [you’re] going to get better at it,” Harsh said. “You don’t need to follow a set path or a certain trajectory of things. You can take different approaches and still have good outcomes, and that’s something that taught me the importance of not giving up too early in something.”