A new country: She moved from India as a freshman. “I was very nervous at first. By my sophomore year, I was very comfortable.”
Challenging schedule: She’s taking four college-level classes, including second-year advanced placement calculus, chemistry and American government. She manages to fit in a guitar class and last year she took a steel drum band course. She has a 3.94 grade point average.
“I like the options (in American schools). … If you do well, you can take tougher level courses, but there are also some real different kinds of electives.”
UW bound: She’ll attend University of Washington next fall where she plans to major in bioengineering and minor in astronomy as part of the school’s honors program. She hopes to research the causes of genetic disorders some day.
Studying the Swamp: She worked closely with science teacher Joe Day on her senior project, analyzing water quality and bacteria from nearby Swamp Creek. Her conclusion, in layman’s terms: “There is a lot of diversity in the E.coli that is in Swamp Creek.”
Field hockey, anyone? Having played field hockey in India, Harkirat was disappointed to learn it wasn’t a high school sport here. These days, she plays for a Seattle-based women’s field hockey team that practices Saturdays at Edmonds-Woodway High School and often competes against Canadian teams.
Graduation approaching: “I feel it’s coming too soon. I think I will miss people a little too much.”
Austen is awesome: She has enjoyed novels by Jane Austen and Greek tragedies.
On Austen, who wrote “Pride and Prejudice” “Emma” and “Sense and Sensibility:” “I like them because they are really a lot about family and feelings.”
Helping hand: Harkirat serves as president of Lynnwood High School Key Club, which does community service. This year, the club collected money for UNICEF and children with leukemia, along with socks for homeless women. It also helped in community Christmas and Easter programs.
“I spend a lot of time volunteering.”
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