Chirp. The sharp noise breaks the stillness, echoing through the trees where a bird is hidden from view. The Quad grows silent for a few moments, until a sudden flutter of wings stirs the branches and a bird swoops down to feast at English teacher Brigid Miller’s bird feeder. Click. Just as quickly, it vanishes upwards, escaping into the sanctuary of the sky. Senior Benjamin Xia lowers his camera, studying his photo’s composition.

After enrolling in multiple Scholastic competitions, Benjamin began to realize how much he enjoyed photography and started out by taking pictures with his phone before eventually investing in camera equipment. Now, he takes his equipment with him wherever he goes, snapping photos of anything from squirrels behind Dobbins or plants on road trips.

“There’s a salt pond in the Palo Alto area that I visited once,” Benjamin said. “I waited until after sunset because I wanted the golden hour photo. That was the first time I actually went above and beyond instead of just going at noon to take photos and come back. It was worth it since I got a tangible product out of it, and it made me go out more often to get better photos.”

Along with photography, Benjamin experimented with many other hobbies, including graphic design, website-building and videography. Close friend senior Justin Yang admires his enthusiasm to explore new things rather than dropping something due to negative first experiences.

“He’s just pretty relaxed with everything, and seems like he’s never stressed out about anything,” Justin said. “While other kids are trying to cram in as many APs as they can and focus on a 5.0 GPA, he’s just pursuing whatever he enjoys, so he’s taking photography, videography, all that, and I think that’s a very good attitude to have when you’re a student.” 

Benjamin joined Orchestra in his sophomore year, choosing the clarinet as a way to try something new after previously playing piano. Close friend and fellow orchestra member senior Eric Dong appreciates his willingness to put in the effort despite joining late, practicing in the orchestra room whenever possible. He reflects on how Benjamin’s intentional approach to his work shapes both his own perspective and Eric’s.

“Sometimes I just forget why I’m even doing what I’m doing, but he reminds me that the things that are really important are the people you talk to and the small moments you have,” Eric said. “I think just having those moments is really nice.”

Wanting to take part in something more along the lines of computer science, Benjamin joined the Harker Robotics team his frosh year, and tried out software for two years before switching to application development. Instead of specializing in one skill, he became a jack of all trades by watching others and volunteering for experience.

“I would just help out here and there and then through many hours of just being in the environment, I started to learn more about Mech-Mach and Electrical, to the point where I’m skilled enough to help out wherever needed,” Benjamin said. “That also makes it fun because sticking to doing one thing is really boring, and wandering around in the lab and in Nelson’s room gives me a sense of purpose to go to the robotics meetings.”

Upper school visual arts department chair Joshua Martinez, who taught him graphic design and photography, notices his interest in all art forms. Despite originally viewing him as quiet, Martinez appreciates his contributions to the small classes through his work, as well as his interest in media unrelated to the courses he was taking. 

“His curiosity is really unique,” Martinez said. “There are students who are really knowledgeable about things at a very high level, that just want to feel like they know everything. Benjamin is different in the sense that he’s knowledgeable at a high level about a lot of different stuff, but he always wants to know more about it, and that is where the real growth happens.”

Despite the variety of his interests, Benjamin manages to connect them in creative ways. From building a website to showcase his photos to handling media for the robotics team during competitions, he contributes his different views to everything he does.

“Photography and CS do seem pretty separate, but if you’re interested in two separate things, finding a way to combine them so you can enjoy both of those is a good way to solve a problem that others might not be able to solve,” Benjamin said.

Through all his hobbies, Benjamin focuses on staying true to himself. He finds a way to express himself in every extracurricular he joins, and refuses to do something just for the sake of prestige. Despite facing challenges, he continues to do what he loves, leaving a lasting mark on others through his carefree nature.

“In photography, not only taking the photos, but also seeing how cameras actually work, like the fundamentals of light, is interesting,” Benjamin said. “In art, you can express yourself in thousands of ways, but photography is just one photo. Seeing how you maneuver around that, which also leads to seeing how you maneuver to get a unique angle to tell the same story as if you were to have drawn it, is a good way to do problem-solving.”