Images flicker across the TV screen as a young Gabe Sachse (12) watches intently. Whether it was a sprawling cowboy epic, a bombastic superhero blockbuster or a poignant arthouse film, he found himself enraptured by cinema, learning more about himself as he explored the art form.

As a kid, Gabe had limited exposure to the world around him. However, he learned a lot about culture through his love of cinema. Films allowed Gabe to experience the world through the creative lenses of many different visionaries.

In his Near Mitra project, Gabe has been analyzing the genre of Westerns. The project gave him a way to give back to the world of film. 

“Being able to take the accepted film canon and examine it through my voice and my personal opinion has been a cathartic process,” Gabe said. “I can flip what film did for me on its head and contribute to the community of film lovers and filmmakers and scholars that study this rich history and its relation to general political and social ideas. I can contribute to that field as opposed to all of those things contributing to my life.”

Near Mitra is not the only manifestation of Gabe’s interest in writing; he is also a managing editor for the Harker online news site, Harker Aquila.  He joined the journalism program in his frosh year to create work both with and for the people around him.

“Journalism taught me how to work within a community, both in terms of bringing news to the community and working within a newsroom that is filled with people, every one of whom is a key cog in our newswriting machine,” Gabe said. “Those are things that I lacked before joining journalism. Writing in the context of something that serves a community has inspired me to pursue scholarship and assume leadership roles and things that I find to be more extroverted by nature.”

In addition to historical research and journalism, Gabe enjoys writing both nonfiction and fiction for pleasure. One of his main goals in writing is to be able to infuse sincerity in all his work. 

“Ernest Hemingway once said that the writer’s job is to tell the truth.” Gabe said. “I think about that every time I put pen to paper or type on a keyboard. No matter whether it’s research writing, fiction writing or journaling, I try to convey on the page a little bit of myself. That allows me to embrace who I am in a more full manner and also to improve as a person.”

Gabe’s English teacher, Brigid Miller, praises Gabe’s strengths as a media critic. She highlights his ability to find connections between certain works that others miss. 

“He was able to see these connections that even I, after teaching certain works for a long time, hadn’t seen on the continuum in the same way,” Miller said. “Some of those insights he drew when making connections between characters in novels and works of cinema that I wasn’t as familiar with.”

On top of his ventures into writing, Gabe also is a two-sport athlete, as a member of both the baseball team and football team. Gabe’s close friend and former teammate Nick Delfino (’23) recalls how Gabe has always carried himself with confidence, even in his first football practice in his freshman year. 

“Even though he was new to Harker, nobody knew him on the team, and we were laughing at it a little bit, he did try to take the initiative,” Nick said. “The confidence has always been there, not just in sports, but in his academics, in journalism, pretty much in any social endeavor I’ve seen him come across. He never lost his confidence, that’s for sure.”

Gabe’s sense of certainty is not only something that he developed for himself but also something he instills in the people around him. Close friend senior Haden Andrews recounts how Gabe enabled him to find his voice and to trust himself and his ideas. 

“Gabe has taught me a lot of things,” Haden said. “Still, one of the biggest would just be that my ideas matter and to value what I believe and to do things I’m passionate about. He really encourages that, and he really makes me the best version of myself in anything I do. I appreciate him for that.”

Using this sense of confidence, Gabe learned to maintain his steady sense of self through whatever troubles he was facing. His experiences as the captain of the baseball and football teams taught him how to deal with failure and keep a level head no matter the outcome of each game. 

“You have to live with yourself, even when you fail over and over and over,” Gabe said. “When you’re a captain, that’s compounded because not only do you have to manage your emotions, but you also have to manage everybody else’s. You have to communicate, and you have to make sure that the team is focused on winning, but you also want to foster an environment that is positive joy.”

Whether through sports, writing or simply the way he carries himself, Gabe strives to be a positive force in the world. In his writing, he works toward sincerity, hoping to leave behind a legacy that outlives both his time at school and on Earth.

“My hope is that, with whatever I do, I create something that extends beyond myself and my lifetime,” Gabe said. “I’ve been told that I never shut up, and I never intend to. Not even when I’m dead.”