The basketball bounces as it hits the pavement, players moving around the court and calling for passes. A defender closes the distance, and senior Ethan Lei shoots the ball before the chance disappears and scores. Moments like these are familiar to Ethan, who learned to seize the moment and attempt a shot before hesitation gets in the way.

“Basketball helps with my mentality,” Ethan said. “In basketball, you have to be very confident in your own skills to do well. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take, so you can’t dwell on past mistakes, because if you let that affect you in the present, that will affect your performance. You just have to be confident and stay confident.”

The same mindset influences how he approaches opportunities in school and beyond. When he first heard of the USA Young Physicists Tournament, he didn’t give up when he found out that Harker hadn’t participated in years due to limited engagement. Instead, he recruited members as a sophomore and has led USAYPT since as president, earning third place internationally this year and requiring him to take on responsibilities he had never been in charge of before. 

“USAYPT helped teach me how to be a leader and manage other people instead of just myself,” Ethan said. “I love the USAYPT community, because through the trips, we’ve all become a very close group of friends. I hope USAYPT continues to grow and perform well in the competitions.”

At this year’s USAYPT tournament, Ethan participated in several rounds, giving his teammates multiple chances to watch how he approaches the competition. USAYPT adviser and physics teacher Mark Brada believes these moments demonstrate Ethan’s unique leadership.

“Ethan does a really great job of leading by example,” Dr. Brada said. “He shows up all the time and doesn’t complain about the work. He does the work and encourages the people around him to go with that. That’s a great sign of a leader, not having to be asked to do things.”

Similarly, rock climbing appeals to Ethan because every route requires a willingness to commit to the next move, just like in a tough shot in basketball. Even if an action feels uncertain, Ethan brings his mentality of not being afraid to take shots into all of his activities.

“Rock climbing is like a puzzle,” Ethan said. “When you’re rock climbing, you need to plan how you’re going to climb the wall, so you combine puzzles with skill and strength. It encourages me to plan more ahead and also trust that my next move will work once I commit to it.”

This same process that starts with uncertainty and ends in a tangible reward appears in the projects Ethan works on in his free time, including origami, Arduino electronics and robotics. One of his favorite projects was building a four-bit CPU in his Computer Architecture class, starting from basic logic gates and gradually assembling the full instruction system.

“Building stuff is very relaxing,” Ethan said. “It’s very satisfying to watch it all come together and finally work or do something visually appealing. For theoretical stuff, you’re more trapped in your own mind and you’re just thinking about it as opposed to when it’s hands-on, you’re more physically involved with whatever you’re doing and you can still use your brain.”

Close friend senior Yash Greene notes that what stands out most about Ethan is the presence he brings in their interactions, whether it’s his humor in everyday conversations or his patience when teaching Yash how to ski.

“He’s both super smart and also a great friend,” Yash said. “Usually smart people are very logical and can be mean to people, but he’s such a great person inside. I like how he’s always positive and always encouraging me to do new things. We have a great connection because he has a positive energy and he’s really smart and caring.”

USAYPT teammate senior Celina Xu admires how Ethan carries himself in group settings, especially in high-stress academic environments. 

“He’s someone who has a very good outlook on life where he doesn’t take things very seriously to the point of toxicity,” Celina said. “He just does things for the sake of doing it for himself and for enjoyment. I like his sense of humor and his ability to make light of situations.”

Working through these projects reinforced the same mindset Ethan developed on the basketball court: the first step is simply deciding to try. Whether it’s solving an open-ended physics problem, attempting a difficult climb or building something that might not work the first time, he believes progress comes from being willing to take the chance.

“When a bird lands on a branch, it’s confident enough to land on that branch not because it trusts the branch, but because it trusts its own wings,” Ethan said. “You have to always trust yourself to be able to get yourself out of bad situations, and as long as you have trust in yourself, you can land on any branch that you want. I’m not afraid to take opportunities because I know I can get myself out of this situation if it goes bad.”