Most people are familiar with Nerf Blasters: the toy gun that launches small foam darts. But have you ever considered the mechanics behind the product? Or, take it a step further, built your own nerf gun — specifically, one with a reverse plunger, that pushes forward all the air behind the dart? Or fired your nerf gun with hundreds of people around in a nerf gun war? Well, Ishaan Parate (‘22) has.

Ishaan has been modifying and building his own nerf guns since fifth grade, but his love for the creativity behind engineering first blossomed when he attended an innovation workshop class in the lower school with his friends. In this class, he learned skills such as 3D modeling and laser cutting that he leverages in his builds. While the steps behind each build are complex, Ishaan appreciates the creativity and all that he’s learned.

“[Building nerf blasters] became this outlet of creativity for me that hasn’t been matched by anything else,” Ishaan said. “The process [of] making a build complete to your desire is such a painstakingly difficult process, but I’ve had to learn from [the skills needed from] soldering to proper painting. There’s so many different options for everything: if you think about it, it exists. The best part is [that] if it doesn’t exist, you can build it yourself.”

Over the past seven years, Ishaan has constructed numerous different structures and types of nerf guns, and he reflects on both the technical and aesthetic aspects of the process.

“Both of them have such different options to make it more powerful and make it look different,” Ishaan said. “It’s creativity on multiple levels in order to get your final desired product, which is so cool to see because people start designing their own blasts. It goes from a toy to an art form very, very quickly.”

Ishaan enjoys not only building nerf guns but also utilizing his creations in nerf gun wars, often with friends — and a community of similarly passionate nerf gun enthusiasts.

“The things you can do in the nerf hobby as a whole [are] so unique,” Ishaan said. “What you can do is quite literally limited by your imagination.”

Close friend Carter Chadwick (‘22) observed Ishaan’s energetic personality and the enjoyment he finds in building nerf blasters.

“[Ishaan] could probably talk nonstop about [nerf blasters],” Carter said. “When he finds something that he likes, he will go into that as hard as he possibly [can]. You can see how passionate he is.”

Modern international affairs teacher Matt McCorkle, who taught Ishaan in his senior year, similarly recalled the enthusiasm and energy he brought to class daily.

“When Ishaan has a question or problem he wants to solve, he relentlessly pursues that,” McCorkle said. “When there would be an element that would pique his interest, he would really amplify the importance of that particular idea for the rest of the class.”

Ishaan carries this dedication with himself as an entrepreneur. What turned into one of his main interests throughout high school began with a 2 a.m. phone call from friend Simren Kochhar (‘22) in his freshman year.

In a spur-of-the-moment decision, Simren invited Ishaan and friend Camilla Lindh (‘22) to join as a team to take on the STEMnovation Challenge, hosted by the upper school Research Symposium, to design a product bridging business and science. The trio invented H2OOT, an IoT-based water saving device, and ultimately placed first in the competition, earning them five thousand dollars in funding and the opportunity to join Harker’s Incubator program.

Over the course of their sophomore year, Ishaan and his team continued to flesh out ideas and eventually developed a full business model and successfully pitched the product to venture capitalists, earning a total of eight thousand dollars to further their business. Through the program, the team grew closer, working hard while playing hard.

“[Ishaan] adds a lot of fun to it too,” Camilla said. “He doesn’t take himself too seriously, and I admire that. He’s always willing to have a fun time but willing to get serious when time calls for it.”

Ishaan, Simren and Camilla continued to grow their business and compete in pitching competitions such as DECA. Through the process, Ishaan found himself drawn to marketing.

“A lot of ideas were implemented and a lot of ideas weren’t,” Ishaan said. “That was so gratifying to me: to be able to see the quantitative progress that was being made.”

The “entrepreneurial spirit” that fuels Ishaan’s drive came from his grandfather, who, after immigrating to the United States from India, bought a circuit board company despite its financial struggles at the time. While the business itself is not very profitable, his grandfather remained determined, continuing to “just do what [he] loved.” Thirty-five years later, he’s still persisting.

Ishaan’s family inspired — in a different way — another hobby of his: theater.

His parents first pushed him onto the stage in sixth grade with the hope that he would make new friends and step outside his comfort zone. Despite his initial reluctance, Ishaan grew to love theater and its affectionate, supportive community. Naturally, he committed to completing the upper school conservatory’s Certificate Program.

One experience in particular that encouraged Ishaan to pursue the Certificate Program was attending the Fringe Festival in Scotland in his freshman year. Years later, he fondly remembers bonding with fellow Harker cast members on the trip.

Throughout his four years of high school, Ishaan performed in over 10 shows, and although he has played numerous diverse roles, each show, ultimately, became a routine for Ishaan.

“Being on stage was nerve racking and now it feels comforting,” Ishaan said. “Leading up to it, I find it calming to hone in on myself, focus on myself and find my place. It’s calming in a sense to do that before I go onstage, do my thing, walk off. Since seventh grade, it’s become second nature for me to just go on stage do my thing and then we move on.”

Additional reporting by Katelyn Zhao.