![“[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)
PhD student Ayush Midha (‘15) recounted how his debate journey in high school shaped his future in the medical field at a Nexus Club speaker in the Nichols Auditorium on Tuesday.
After an introduction from Nexus Club Vice President Arushi Sahasi (11), Midha talked about his experiences in the two fields of medicine and policy.
“I didn’t expect him to bring so much depth about his individual work or how to balance work and life in college and beyond,” Arushi said. “So that was a really good perspective for him to share, and it was useful for our students.”
Midha discussed starting debate in middle school because of his parents’ wishes for him to hone his argumentative skills in a formal environment. Midha stuck with competitive debate, despite challenges like deciding between debate camp and STEM courses over the summer.
“Regardless of how good you are at debate or at anything, everybody will experience setbacks and losses, so it was a useful way for me to learn how to develop healthy resilience habits to cope with setbacks,” Midha said.
Midha explained that he was excited to utilize his foundational knowledge of international affairs from debate in pursuing an economics or government-related major. After spending two years taking a range of courses at Harvard, he decided to pursue a degree in biology and eventually went down the pre-med track due to his interest in global health.
After spending a summer studying in Kenya, Midha took on a more hands-on approach to global health with medicine. He regained previous interest in public policy when studying healthcare systems, leading to his current five-year-long pursuit of a PhD through biological research at the University of California, San Francisco.
“I really love the research environment and in a lot of ways it feels like doing debates,” Midha said. “Reading about one specific topic really in depth and formulating some sort of conclusion or idea about how to test our hypothesis is pretty similar to reading about national health insurance or minimum wage and putting together an argument based on all of the data that’s available.”
Debater Sanjith Senthil (10) resonated with Midha’s uncertainties about pursuing law or STEM in high school.
“He showed me that you don’t have to make a decision now,” Sanjith said. “There’s always multiple options. They’re not necessarily in conflict—humanities and STEM. They’re not two ends of a stick. They really go together.”
Seniors Ruhan Sahasi and Veer Sahasi, founders of Nexus Club, acknowledge the struggles that students feel regarding pursuing either the humanities or STEM. The club aims to honor the intersection of these two disciplines by hosting speaker events and workshops to highlight careers that rely on both.
“My experience as a Harker student was that there is this tremendous pool of opportunities and knowledge,” Midha said. “It can feel overwhelming at times to try to navigate that and figure out what is the best path to choose. It’s helpful to hear people who have been through that experience share how they made choices.”
