Harry Clarke is a junior at Wilcox High School — but he doesn’t adhere to much of what that often implies. He loves National Geographic, cleaning, writing, and especially reading. Sports play a role in his life in equal parts personal significance and competitive enjoyment. And for those who know him, Harry’s interest in topics both obscure and mainstream leaves a strong, lasting impression.
Harry’s passion for reading is by far his most apparent. Early on in an interview over the phone, Harry mentions, “I love reading books. Books are a big part of my daily life.” He pauses, admitting, “Sometimes I over-read, and skip my homework,” and laughs. “It’s kind of a problem when you read so much that your parents are taking the books out of your hands.”
“The…[books] I grew up with were, you know, typical ones; Magic Treehouse, some lesser known ones like Artemis Fowl…IQ.” Harry speaks as well to how his tastes grew over time, being influenced by people like teachers who were impressed with his passion and gave him books. “My first time being exposed to an actual political novel would be in 4th or 5th grade, I think. I read The Book Thief…It talks a lot about book burning, and how she [the main character]…stole books from the piles being burned, and she would read them.”
“I started looking for stuff kinda between there, and Magic Treehouse,” Harry adds, laughing. “I settled on…adventure fantasy stories, those are my favorites. Ones with more mature themes, but still that childhood ‘I wanna go to another world and cast fireball’ kinda thing.” Later, he mentions “I love the fantasy element, but I search for…[a] connection in the books I read. I don’t wanna be in a dream world — I want to be in a world that I feel like I can walk through.”
Harry’s childhood is the origin for many of his hobbies today, including reading. Harry reminisces that his parents “limited our intake on the normal stuff kids got. So shows like the Regular Show, SpongeBob…I’ve never seen either of those in any capacity. The only thing I was allowed to watch was basically National Geographic.” Harry ended up turning to books for entertainment, he says — “And it’s lasted ever since then.”
Tennis is another important passion that began early in Harry’s life. He started the sport 10 years ago, on Wilcox’s own courts (though he expressed disappointment that, now that he’s at Wilcox and playing for the team, he’s unable to play on them due to an ongoing overhaul).
With a hint of wonder, Harry says “I made a ton of new friends [through tennis]; people who I’d never interacted with before, never would have had the chance to interact with.” He continues, “It’s also great that as a team, we’re all pushing each other to be better…And we got that rivalry with Santa Clara that’s kind of sad because, they always lose. But they’re just trying to get better too. So even then, you’re always pushing for improvement.”
Harry also looks up to Mr. Muralt, his tennis coach. “He has the mentality that you can always keep pushing yourself, do better. And I really respect that about him: how he always encourages other people…to try their best.”
Harry isn’t decided on where to go after high school. But when asked about where he’d end up in the future, without limits on resources and time, Harry answers, “I feel like it would be really cool to either be a doctor, or a zoologist of some kind.” He adds, “The doctor thing, I understand that it’s not really reasonable…because I know for a fact that I am 100% unwilling to sit in school for another eight years.” “So yeah, if anything…You’ll see me at the zoo.”
Today, Harry’s unique qualities continue to make a strong impression on his peers. Michelle Nguyen is also a Wilcox junior, and has been friends with Harry for about 10 years. Speaking on Harry’s personality and hobbies, she said, “ever since I’ve known him, he’s always reading. In class he’s usually reading, or sometimes he’s doodling or talking, but he’s usually reading.”
“He talks a lot. He often gets really passionate about random topics, and he’ll just keep talking about it.” Pausing, she added, “He likes sushi.”
Overall, Harry is a student as passionate as he is eclectic. His time at Wilcox has led him to grow closer with people from whom he draws inspiration, competition, and a sense of community. Meanwhile, in his free time Harry continues to ardently satisfy his creativity and curiosity, about worlds both fictional and real. Asked to conclude the interview Harry stops, saying thoughtfully after a moment, “I was about to say something very crass. Never mind.”
He laughs and tries again: “You know, I just — everyone should appreciate where we are right now, especially in one of the more developed parts of the world. We have a lot of things at our disposal that not a lot of people take advantage of, myself included. And I think that everyone should just, you know. Do their thing.”
