![“[Building nerf blasters] became this outlet of creativity for me that hasn't been matched by anything else. 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," Ishaan Parate said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DSC_8149-900x604.jpg)
![“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 it's played such a major role in who I've 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 I'm [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)
![“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)
![“My slogan is ‘slow feet, don’t eat, and I’m hungry.’ You need to run fast to get where you are–you aren't going to get those championships if you aren't 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)
![“[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)
![“I'm 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 there's a lot of people that are really confident in what they do, and I really admire them. Everyone's 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)
13 upper school Women in STEM members visited the lower school campus to host interactive STEM Buddies experiments for two classes of first and second grade students on Oct. 27.
WiSTEM members led activities including oobleck, pinecone bird feeders, marker chromatography, alka seltzer rockets and magic sand for the STEM Buddies program. At each of the five stations, two or three WiSTEM members supervised and assisted smaller groups of lower school students as they participated in hands-on experiments.
WiSTEM members first set up stations and conducted experiments with lower school science department chair Enni Chen’s second graders. After one hour, they began teaching lower school science teacher Cassidy Caldwell’s first grade class and subsequently returned from the lower school at 3:20 p.m.
“I love how not only [WiSTEM] is sharing this passion, but they’re passing it on to the other kids, and they see that it’s something that they can do when they’re in high school too,” Chen said.
The STEM Buddies initiative aims to introduce younger students to diverse areas of science through fun and engaging experiments. In marker chromatography, students observed water’s capillary action as it created colorful patterns on filter paper, and in alka seltzer rockets, they learned about gas pressure and carbon dioxide. Students also explored the differences between liquids and solids with oobleck, made natural bird feeders with pinecones and sun butter and tested the properties of water with hydrophobic sand.
Volunteer Arshia Sankar (9), who joined WiSTEM after seeing their poster at the club fair, reflected on what she enjoyed about the STEM Buddies event.
“It was really fun interacting with all the little kids,” Arshia said. “[My favorite part was] seeing their reactions when they saw the colors disperse on the paper [in marker chromatography]. It’s super fun coming to the lower school and teaching the kids things they didn’t know before.”
STEM Buddies stands as one of WiSTEM’s enduring initiatives, with a legacy dating back to 2014. This year, WiSTEM STEM Buddies directors Kaitlyn Su (11) and Misha Singla (10) worked behind the scenes to orchestrate the event’s success. They purchased materials online and coordinated with lower school administration about meeting times and locations.
“Throughout that process, we’re getting volunteers to help with this visit, including officers and also WiSTEM club members,” Kaitlyn said. “Actually getting to the place and doing the activities, it’s a lot more chaotic than expected, but it’s fun.”
WiSTEM plans to hold more STEM Buddies events this year, including one at the annual Research Symposium in April.
