On July 8-19, 2024 Kara Haj (12) attended a Harvard pre-college program where she got a “glimpse into … Harvard college life,” Haj said. “I studied epigenetics and gene regulation. They had, like, a hundred courses you could take.”
Haj was able to experience a bit of college life; she said she was there for two weeks and even got to stay in the dorms.
At the pre-college program, Haj wrote a research grant. “I got to go, like, deep dive in genetics and develop a possible cure for something,” Haj said. “It was, like, one of those things you read and you’re, like, whoa, ‘what the heck does that say?’ But it was really cool.”
At WHS, Haj took the AP Research class taught by Phil Weiser (staff). “Her research question was really interesting in kind of looking at how increased life spans are going to affect the environment and the economy,” Weiser said.
This research allowed her to talk to professionals in the field. “She did Delphi methodology, which involved interviewing academics in those fields. And it was a hard project to do,” Weiser said. “But she did an excellent job of just kind of developing that question, doing the research behind it and then conducting the interviews …. it was a great project overall.”
When it comes to her school life, Weiser — who has had Haj in AP Research as well as AP Seminar and AP U.S. History — describes her as an “incredibly intelligent young woman.”
“She’s very motivated to be successful, but she doesn’t put too much pressure on herself,” Weiser said. “She’s a very personable young lady, very positive. I adore Kara. She’s awesome.”
Haj is able to balance her heavy course load with multiple out-of-school activities. “I do theater, choir. I volunteer at the hospital every week,” Haj said. “I’m trying to get a job. I might do a sport, maybe track or something if I have time.”
Leah Gilmore (12), who does choir and theater with Haj, said, “She knows that she’ll be able to do it and be able to get it done no matter what.”
Haj is not afraid of meeting new people. “She’s very open with everybody. She’s not like a shy person,” Gilmore said. “She’ll just go up and talk to you and introduce herself.”
Haj is also a great leader. Gilmore said, “If you’re ever nervous about anything, like performing in front of somebody (or) doing something scary …. she’ll help you get through that. So that’s something I like about her.”
When it comes to stress, Haj knows how to manage it. “I manage stress by devoting time to both, like self-care, going home, cleaning my room and like all my free time will be either to that or my friends,” Haj said. “Because I’m a very extroverted person, I find that … when I spend time with my friends, I feel more rejuvenated.”
This strategy is much appreciated by her friends. “Obviously she prioritizes doing school … but since she’s got so much going on … she also takes time to hang out with friends,” Gilmore said.
“If she needs to do work … we’ll just sit around while she does work for a while, just being there with us,” Gilmore said. “She likes to prioritize the people in her life especially, which I think helps her with her stress load a lot of the time.”
Many people may lack the motivation to get everything done with this much on their plate. “Since I was little, have just been fueled by, like, doing the best I can,” Haj said. “I wasn’t born with this type of work ethic. I had to build it, I used to procrastinate a lot and I just found that you are less stressed when you just do the work as soon as you get it.”
Many people around her notice this. “She’s very motivated, I feel naturally just on her own,” Gilmore said. “So she’s able to sit down and get a lot of work done all at once where most people would get distracted.”
Haj has applied to Harvard. As part of the application process, she participated in an interview. During the interview, she “was asked what it was like to be valedictorian and basically what I did to get there,” Haj said. “(I explained that) I instilled healthy habits when I was younger and just continued those.”
Haj recently found out that her application was deferred, essentially delaying her application until spring.
