Class Notes – Harker School 1992-present – Harker Quarterly Summer 2015

This article originally appeared in the summer 2015 Harker Quarterly.

2002

Congratulations to Alexander Wang (MS ’98) who was named one of “The 100 Most Influential People” by Time Magazine. The magazine recently released its annual list and Alex was one of the few fashion designers among the elite to make the cut.

2003

Maheen Kaleem is 
a recent Georgetown University Law Center graduate. She was featured (with both a quote and photo) in a thought-provoking front-page article in The Washington Post on the future value of a legal degree. In the piece, she shared that she wants to practice public interest law, but said she didn’t enter law school with “blinders on about the job market.” To read the full piece: http://wapo.st/1J4ESAO.

Jigish Patel and Charitha Reddy got engaged at Harker’s upper school campus. Please see the Celebrations section for details!

2006

Steve Boyle has been getting rave reviews for
his work directing the play “Exit, Pursued by a Bear,” which had a successful run with the City Lights Theater Company, ending mid-June.

Of the play, critic John Orr at Regarding Arts said, “Director Steve M. Boyle has this cast and show ticking like a fine Swiss watch.” Steve worked with the Santa Cruz Shakespeare performing arts theater last summer and, during his senior year at Harker, was a student director in the Conservatory. Look for a full profile on Steve and his performing arts work in the fall issue of Harker Quarterly!

Lauren Harries recently traveled to Georgia on a secret project with a lo- cal theater company to compete against a diverse pool of entertainment groups in a reality variety show called “Fake Off.” The first episode aired on May 6. “Episodes air at 10 p.m. (Eastern time) on the TruTV network every Wednesday through June 10 (the finale). If you don’t have the network in your cable package, episodes may be watched through the network’s website the morning after the air date,” reported Lauren. Check out the show’s main webpage: http://www.trutv.com/ shows/fake-off/index.html.

Sharon Her recently graduated with her M.A. in education with an emphasis on child life in hospitals and is currently working as a certified child life specialist (CCLS) at Sutter Children‘s Center in Sacramento. She helps support the psychosocial well-being of all the kids and families there through procedural preparation and support, education and play.

After three years of working from 3 a.m.-4 p.m.
on the trade floor of the world’s largest asset management company, Roshni Mehra left her job in finance to pursue her passion in philanthropy. Most recently, Roshni started working at Stanford University‘s Graduate School of Business in the external relations and development office, and is a freelance writer for the health and nutrition section of India.com. Roshni also sent in a photo taken at an impromptu ’06 mini-reunion in Ghirardelli Square. Shown, from left, are: Shilpika Lahri ’07 and ’06 alums Priya Takiar, Roshni, Amulya Mandava and Jaya Pareek.

Sasha Stepanenko got married. Please see the Celebrations section for details!

2008

Alex Underwood has returned to Harker – to work! Alex recently joined the Harker staff as a theater technician in the performing arts department at the upper school campus. Welcome back to Harker, Alex!

Catherine Chiu, now in medical school at UCSF, returned to the upper school with fellow former classmate Neelaysh Vukkadala (also a UCSF medical student) to lead
an engaging suturing workshop for advanced science students at the end of April.

2011

In mid-March, upper school math teacher Victor Adler met up with 19 Harker alumni at Gather restaurant in Berkeley. The alumni in attendance were from the classes of 2011 and 2014.

2012

Rachelle Koch co- authored a research pa- per about a University of Chicago study in which participants were taught
to identify piano notes by sound alone, demonstrating that absolute pitch can be a learned skill.

This new study was published by the scientific journal “Cognition.” See more at: http://news.uchicago. edu/article/2015/05/28/ acquiring-perfect-pitch- may-be-possible-some- adults#sthash.6I39ZNdx. a0eF7fet.dpuf.

2013

Maverick McNealy is getting serious attention for his golf game, though he says he’ll probably still go into business (sooner or later) after college! Recently there was a great KTVU (http://bit.ly/1J6zTjr) piece on him, and here are a couple of articles, both from the Wall Street Journal, on his plans and how his presence could affect the game. And, in breaking news as Harker Quarterly was about to go to press, Maverick won
 the Haskins Award for his stellar performance on the links as part of the Stanford golf team! This prestigious award is given to the top college player in golf. Read all about it: http://bit. ly/1Fq9shp. http://www.wsj.com/ articles/the-golfing- upstart-of-silicon- valley-1431125032 http://www.wsj.com/ articles/what-golf-needs-a- rival-for-rory-1428506420

Over spring break, some 2013 alums – Curran
 Shah, Kevin Susai, Rags Selvaraj, Neel Bhoopalam and Tiphaine Delepine – met up at USC. They had a blast catching
 up and meeting each other‘s new friends. Not pictured: Nick Chuang, Ragini Bhattacharya, Raghav Sehtia, Michael Amick and Adithram Rengaramchandran.

Cecilia Lang-Ree was named national champion in late May for Individual Advanced Walk-Trot-Canter at the national finals of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association in Springfield, Mass. She competed as an individual, representing Stanford University, where she’s a sophomore.

Drew Goldstein is now sporting an NCAA Championship ring following Duke University’s successful basketball season. Drew is team manager and helps throughout the season with game videos, sideline needs and equipment wrangling, all of which contributed to the team’s success. “It was great to watch him during and after a game,” said Butch Keller, upper school head. “We had a couple of text exchanges and he is so excited – as
he should be!” Take a look at Drew’s sportscenter’s Instagram account; he is the red-haired guy on top of the pile! https://instagram. com/p/1KLr9GH_qZ/?taken- by=sportscenter.

Indu Seeni and Shreya Vemuri recently dropped by the alumni relations office for a visit. Indu is attending St. Bonaventure University in upstate New York, and Shreya is enrolled at Carnegie Mellon University. Both were home for spring break. Indu had just enjoyed lunch with classmate Jenny Chen. Shreya and Indu were friends from Harker’s middle school, and still keep in touch.

2014

Zina Jawadi was elected president of the Hearing Loss Association of America, California State Association (HLAA-CA). She has been HLAA-CA webmaster since July 2013 and served as HLAA-CA Facebook moderator from 2013 to 2014. Zina has interned at the UCSF Otology and Cochlear Implant Center and at the House Ear Institute in Los Angeles. Zina is a three-time recipient of the United States President’s Volunteer Service Award, is the recipient of the 2014 HLAA Outstanding Young Adult Award, and was the founder of the Disability Awareness Program at Harker. Zina attends Stanford University.

2015

The Class of 2015 is already making news. Four of the 20 featured in Business In- sider’s story of the most impressive high school grads are from Harker! The Harker students included in the article are Samantha Madala, Rohith Kuditipudi, Andrew Jin and Daniela Lee. To see the full story: http://www.businessinsider. com/most-impressive-kids- graduating-from-high- school-2015-5?op=1.

Congratulations to the Class of 2015 on your graduation and welcome to the Alumni Association! We look forward to hearing updates from you!