Hello! My name is Harsimran Makkad, and I am a senior at Sycamore High School. This is my fourth year in the journalism program, where I serve as Executive Web Editor-in-Chief, directing, developing, and managing the website, shsleaf.org. I believe in a hands-on approach, and my curiosity and desire to move fast often motivates me to get my hands dirty. Apart from posting articles daily, I am working to make the site more engaging to our viewers.
My exploration of various genres such as News, Feature, and Opinion has engendered a passion for social issues such as equality and women’s rights. This fervor erupted into a research paper I wrote last year, which traced the fight for women’s rights through the 1970s as part of the Feminist Art Movement.
Obviously, I love art of all forms: drawing, painting, sculpture, and graphic design. This is why I take pride in designing pages using software such as Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator. I especially enjoy formatting pieces in a web-friendly manner. My love for art also extends to the fine arts – I am currently entering my 10th year of tap dancing at the College Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati, where I have also furthered my vocal and acting skills.
Through my time in journalism, I have learned to appreciate, and maybe even welcome, the uncomfortable. I even enjoy taking risks and trying new things. This applies to all my classes, particularly the sciences. For the past five years, I have explored various science projects in-depth, which I presented at the school, district, and state science fairs. I have employed statistics to validate robustness of experimental data, hypothesis testing to verify soundness of results, and have used calculus, vectors, and matrices to build mathematical models. I wish to conduct similar research in college.
My love for science extends to the medical field. Over this summer, I interned at the Cincinnati Eye Institute, where through shadowing various ophthalmologists I honed the skill of interacting with others. What was invaluable was the diversity I encountered – people of all different ages, ethnicities, and socioeconomic backgrounds. I listened to their stories and learned more about them as individuals. This experience was a self-realization: I want to make a difference in people’s lives sometime in the not-so-distant future, just as these doctors did with their patients. As the poet Maya Angelou once said, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Thus, I hope to find a career that allows me to employ my knowledge and skills set to positively impact the world and make it a better place for all.
In addition to journalism, I take part in SHS’s Book Club, Math Club, and Latin Club. I am also an active member in National Honor Society. Volunteering with younger kids comes to me naturally since every day I help my two young siblings with their school work. Furthermore, I am a leader of a team working on the development and creation of an Alumni Wall for the school.
I love to read a variety of books, whether they are novels, news articles, or science-related journals. Some of my favorite books include When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi, Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, and The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. My motto is embodied by the words of Vivian Greene: “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.”
