Post-exam celebrations: a quintessential part of being a student. Getting ice cream, watching a movie, and sleeping for hours all top the list, but only one catches the interest of Desiree Luo (‘24). For her, it’s her annual post-finals Barnes and Noble trips with her mom.

“I go into the store, I collect a stack of books, and I just sit there and read them,” Desiree said. “I can spend hours and hours reading. It’s where I feel most at peace because I don’t have to think about anything else; I’m just immersed in the book.

Desiree actively seeks out the most affecting stories in the media around her, from all genres of books to any generation of movie, the ones in which she feels the most inspired and in which the most valuable lessons are found. The diverse perspectives she encounters has developed her empathy in her everyday interactions. 

“With a lot of art, you really appreciate it because the lessons, the themes and the central values that it conveys are timeless,” Desiree said. “It shows that even though a lot has changed in our world over the past few centuries, the fundamental human values, ideas, passions, hopes and dreams haven’t changed at all. That’s really inspiring to me. Interacting with different pieces of art allows me to appreciate the different things that matter to different people. ” 

Close friend Siddhi Jain (‘24) cherishes Desiree’s caring and sensible nature. Her warm energy and openness cultivates a comfortable and safe environment for her friends.

“She’ll never make you feel judged for something, which I don’t think is an easy thing to do because everybody has different interests in different things,” Siddhi said. “Desiree will always be an open ear, and she’ll always approach you with kindness. She never comes from a place of wanting to judge you or put you down. She’ll always have a positive outlook on things.”

Similarly, close friend Meishin Yen (‘24) sees Desiree as a reliable companion. Whenever Meishin felt down, Desiree kept encouraging her to keep high spirits and comforted her through every step. 

“When I had tough situations in the past couple years, Desiree was always there,” Meishin said. “She would bring me things to cheer me up, and she’s always there to listen. She makes you feel that it’s okay and we’re in it together. She’s good to go to for input because she’s going to support you, but she’s also going to be really honest, as objective as someone can be. She’s one of the most considerate people I’ve ever met.”

Desiree’s kindness extends beyond her friends and to all the people she interacts with. Regardless of what setting she finds herself in, Desiree aims to be amicable and learn as much as she can from the world around her.

“I want people to remember me as someone who’s kind and approachable,” Desiree said. “I try to talk to everyone, and I try to become friends with anyone I possibly can. I don’t limit myself to one group of people because everyone can teach me something valuable. Every single person that I’ve met at Harker has shown me a new perspective that I’ve been able to appreciate and learn from.”

Learning has no limits for Desiree. When presented with the opportunity to decipher a difficult problem, she dives into the intricacies, eager to ascertain whatever she can from the situation.

“Before asking anyone for help, try and do it yourself,” Desiree said. “Self-accountability is very important to me. If I can do something myself, I want to learn how to figure it out and do it myself. I don’t want to burden other people by asking them to do me a favor. It’s good for me too because it teaches me something new.”

Desiree’s aspiration to learn more extends to her interest in sports. Inspired by her father, a major sports fan, she garnered a new fascination for an unfamiliar topic, picking up knowledge about how games worked and teams fared. Desiree finds sports games intriguing and sees them as mini-movies.

“Through sports, you can really see the lengths to which human beings go to achieve their goals,” Desiree said. “Some of the best sports games touch you. The incredible thing about sports is it gives you these fairytale-like stories that show you that your dreams are achievable, and that anything is possible if you work towards it.”

Seeing the drive of players motivates Desiree to work her hardest in pursuing her own goals. To Desiree, when athletes succeed, they show how any dream is attainable. 

“You can really respect how hard the players work because some of them have really unlikely success stories. Hearing those stories makes you want to do better in your own life because if they can show that the impossible is possible, then maybe the impossible in my life can be possible.”

Whether learning from the storyline of a new book, the thematic message of a movie or the gameplay of her favorite team, Desiree never ceases to grasp any opportunity she can to learn. Not only does her passion for knowledge help her flourish, it also helps others around her grow in their own regard.

“I want to be remembered as someone who was always willing to learn and never took shortcuts to learning,” Desiree said. “I want to be remembered for someone who really learned because of a passion to learn. Whenever I speak in class, it’s because I really do want to share something I hope is meaningful. Or whenever I go see a teacher, it’s because I really do want to learn more from them or I want to deepen my connection with them.”