![“[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)
The four Siemens Competition regional finalists and sophomore Samyukta Yagati presented their research to students and faculty today during long lunch, covering topics from music to multiple myeloma.
WiSTEM worked in conjunction with Research Club to organize the event. According to WiSTEM co-president Lorraine Wong (12), the clubs wanted to inspire students to embrace science and even conduct their own research.
“We wanted to promote that science doesn’t just stop inside the classroom. Hopefully people [took] away that there are a lot of directions you can go in,” Lorraine said.
For senior Ashvin Swaminathan, whose project looked at the uses of surreal numbers in calculus, presenting in the Nichols auditorium was a new experience.
“This was my first time presenting in an auditorium. I’ve never actually presented with a microphone before, so it was a good way to gain some experience,” he said.
He particularly enjoyed the question and answer session that followed his presentation. Though few audience members were experts in his field of study, Ashvin feels that “the best questions come from people who don’t really know about [his] project,” since they help him clarify his points.
In addition to the finalists, Samyukta presented research that she did at COSMOS, a science summer camp for high school students. The camp requires researchers to present their findings to an audience, so she decided to use the Upper School as a venue to share her research on distant galaxies.
“I was particularly interested in astronomy because I knew so little about it,” Samyukta said. “There’s something about stars and space that seems so mysterious and so different from the rules that govern Earth.”
The Siemens regional finalists will travel to the California Institute of Technology in Southern California this weekend, all vying to become a Siemens Competition National Winner, as well as winning the 100,000-dollar prize.
