The sun’s golden rays cast a glow over the duck pond, as fifth grade Sasha Masson (12) kneels on the grassy bank, eagerly watching the ducks gracefully navigate the waters, her eyes alight with curiosity. While Sasha sits and breathes in the fresh air, her thoughts wander as she notices the rapid decline in the number of ducks in the pond. She shifts her gaze to the solar farm in the far distance that resided near her house, wondering if it caused the disappearance of the ducks. Sasha recalls a recent classroom activity that she believes is useful in addressing the issue.

“We were in class, testing the water for nitrogen phosphate levels, so I did it to the duck pond,” Sasha said. “Then, I noticed that there were extremely high levels, meaning that there was a lot of chemical runoff. Turns out, it was coming from the solar farm. It was surprising to me learning that something that we think is environmental is actually not that great.” 

After this discovery, young Sasha became interested in the consequences of solar panels and strongly desired to become a part of the solution to spread awareness. Due to her lack of inner confidence and resources, Sasha felt as if she didn’t have the skills to take steps towards her aspirations and voice her concerns.

Fueled by her experiences as a child with the duck pond, Sasha pursued research about the environmental impacts of solar panels. In her sophomore year, she hoped to find a solution by creating more environmentally friendly and organic forms of solar panels. The skills Sasha gained through her experiences enabled her to begin her journey towards reaching her ambitions. However, Sasha acknowledges that exploring a rarely addressed topic made the research process difficult, yet she uses her love for research to motivate herself.

“Not many people are looking into solar panels and that’s why I’m really interested in them; they don’t get enough attention,” Sasha said. “If it’s not people like me or people in our generation starting to do that type of work, then no one else is.”

In high school, Sasha started speech and debate. Through these pursuits, she learned how to build her confidence and gained the self-assurance to speak up for herself. 

“Speech and debate has helped me become a better advocate for myself,” Sasha said. “I used to be very afraid of asking teachers questions or raising my hand in class, but I’ve noticed that since I’ve done speech and debate, it’s allowed me to have more courage to do that.”

Sasha frequently attends tournaments, and although she enjoys the feeling of accomplishment that comes from participating in the events, the fulfillment she gets from expressing her opinions through speech and debate transcends winning an award.

“I enjoy being able to convince a random person that what you’re saying matters, and I also enjoy people listening to what you say and analyzing it, and being able to learn how to think on your feet,” Sasha said.

Speech and debate allowed Sasha to grow as a person, giving her strengths such as confidence, articulation, and poise that she uses in other aspects of her life, and she is unafraid to articulate her viewpoints.

“I’ve noticed that since I’ve done Speech and Debate, I’m unafraid to point out when someone’s wrong or ask clarifying questions, something I struggled with,” Sasha said. “It also has helped me with research, in terms of being a better advocate for the work that I do.”

Besides speech and debate, Sasha carries her love for public speaking in her other interests. In her junior year, Sasha felt inspired to start Mock Trial due to her expanding fascination with speech and debate. When she started the club, Sasha took on a lot of responsibility; she handled different aspects like attracting new team members, managing meetings, and spreading awareness. Throughout her journey, Sasha’s experiences with public speaking helped her effectively lead.

“Being able to be a good leader is something that I learned a lot from in debate, especially since I wasn’t really good at using my voice before doing debate or telling people how I feel a certain way,” Sasha said. “In Mock Trial, as someone who was leading the club, I had to be unafraid to voice my concerns or my true feelings for the team.”

Sasha also participates in Model UN, where she attends conferences, providing her opportunities to meet new people of different backgrounds. She enjoys how meeting a diverse community helps her learn about new perspectives and widens her viewpoint.

“It’s a great way to meet people from all over the world,” Sasha said. “I’ve met people from Canada, people from other states, some from other countries, some from Italy, so it was fun seeing new perspectives.”

Many of the people around Sasha notice her hard work in all of her pursuits. One of Sasha’s close friends, Juhi Madala (12), recalls Sasha’s diligence and ability to manage her work regardless of the various challenges she faced.

“She’s a very hard worker and lots of times you won’t see her at lunch because she’ll be in the library completing her work and getting ahead because she does a lot and she still manages to stay on top of things,” Juhi said. “Yet, she’ll never ask anyone else to pick up the slack for her.” 

Sasha’s positive outlook when it comes to working towards her aspirations helps her persevere despite the challenges she faces in research or her activities. Close friend Isha Kotalwar (12) describes how Sasha’s positivity and humor make her an encouraging and welcoming person to be around.

“Bubbly is the best way to describe her personality,” Isha said. “She’s full of jokes at all times. She’s super funny. She’ll always make you laugh no matter what. She is good at making people feel comfortable, making them included wherever they are, no matter the conversation.”

Whether with her friends or in the classroom, Sasha freely expresses her personality by being outspoken yet open. AP Environmental Science teacher Jeff Sutton, Sasha’s teacher and advisor, commends Sasha’s unique ability to maintain strong self-expression while acknowledging the opinions of others, even if they oppose her own.

“She has this nice balance between being opinionated but also she’s willing to listen to what other people have to say, and engage them with their thoughts, even if they disagree with her,” Sutton said. “And if they agree with her, she will sometimes flip it and challenge them. She’s very willing to look at the overlap between opinions and facts and people’s perceptions.”

Sasha’s experiences created the foundation for her to build self-confidence and catalyze growth through her hobbies. The lessons she learned from these experiences make her an avid advocate for public speaking.

“I would encourage more people to do activities like this,” Sasha said. “At Harker, especially, it’s a very STEM focused school, so you don’t see as many people engaging in these types of activities but as someone who also does research and other STEM stuff, it’s interesting to see how being an advocate and speaker helps you with things like that.”