By Nyla ’24
Often times, on your tour or when speaking to a Harvard-Westlake student, you’ll hear things like “I love Harvard-Westlake because of all the resources offered and because whenever you feel overwhelmed, your teachers and faculty are always there for you!” Though this statement might feel cliché or overused, I am here to tell you it is completely true. I would need way more than my two hands to count the number of times that the Hub, a wolverscreen, one of the librarians, or any faculty member at HW has helped me out of, what felt like at the time, a dire situation. In retrospect, these “situations” were all most likely small things – left my ID in the cafeteria, forgot what day of the cycle it was, forgot what homework was due for history class the next day – but, I always felt better thanks to all of the resources HW has to offer.
The Hub is a website that every student has access to. Here, you’ll find all of your classes and your teachers will post assignments, the homework, and upcoming quizzes and tests. The Hub is incredibly helpful and is also where you’ll find Zoom links for your classes (a feature added to fit this unique online-learning situation due to Covid-19). I love the Hub as it is such an easy way to view any announcements about your classes and an organized place to find all assignments and tests listed.
Another great feature is the HW Bulletin. This is similar to a newsletter and contains useful information about club meetings, HW events, school-wide announcements. In addition, the bulletin also contains a column listing students with upcoming birthdays and fun facts! The bulletin is very easily accessible. When students are on campus, it is posted on wolverscreens (TVs around campus with important info about school events and the daily schedule) and in practically every hallway, and now, with online learning, the bulletin is emailed out daily and on the HW website. I find myself visiting the bulletin regularly to read fun facts or look at which clubs are meeting. I love being able to easily click on the Zoom link and automatically be transported to the world of Star Wars, every Tuesday, and Animé every Thursday!
In addition to so many amazing online resources, it is also so comforting to know that, whether we are in in-person school or online school, every faculty member at HW is there for you. Between office hours and easy access to time slots your teachers are available to meet, it is rare that I ever feel alone or not supported. So, while this may sound like a broken record, I love Harvard-Westlake because of all of the resources offered, and am so grateful that the teachers and faculty are always there for me and all HW students!
