By Riley
I can still remember my first time on the Harvard-Westlake campus, everything seemed to be a little more perfect. The sun appeared to shine brighter and the sky looked clearer. As I gawked at the beauty around me, I felt an overwhelming sense of something I couldn’t quite place…something like comfort. A comfort like when you wrap a soft blanket around your body on a nippy night. It’s unmistakable, the feeling of Harvard-Westlake and the beauty of the campus.
While on my tour of Harvard-Westlake, I was amazed by every building. Munger Library with its coziness and shelves upon shelves of books made me long for a good read, Saperstein Theater with its expansive stage made me wish I was a performing arts person, the cafeteria made my mouth water at the idea of eating an appetizing lunch with my friends, Wang Hall with all its student art displayed made me excited to dive into visual arts, and Marshall Center made me think maybe PE wasn’t so bad after all. After my tour, my eyes seemed to widen from amazement, a smile glued to my face as a newfound sense of determination began to flood my brain. Determination to walk this campus as a student. A strive for excellence and a longing to be part of the Harvard-Westlake community.
When you become part of the Harvard-Westlake community, the community around you embraces you with open arms. You can feel the support and kindness radiating from students and faculty. Everywhere you see a smile, you instantly feel happier. Walking on campus is a feeling of joy, opening a door to find a friend smiling back at you is a feeling of reassurance, and walking out on stage to be met with applause is a feeling of pride. The community puts you on a pedestal, it puts every individual on one. However, a real test of a community is what everyone does when someone falls off their pedestal. At Harvard-Westlake, when you fall, because everyone is bound to fall, there will always be someone there to hold out his or her hand and pick you back up, whether faculty or student. This reassurance of being picked back up allows you to have virtually no fear of falling. It gives you the confidence to put yourself in a situation where you may fall, and sometimes you may fall, but sometimes you fly and when you do fly, you will soar. You will soar and people will cheer you on, they will look up at you and applaud your newfound heights. That is the beauty of the Harvard-Westlake community; it allows you to soar and fall while still cheering you on, embracing and supporting you.
Harvard-Westlake’s community is strong, it sticks together like glue and is always motivating you. Harvard-Westlake’s campus is gorgeous, a kind of gorgeous that feels perfect and makes you feel proud to be at Harvard-Westlake. Everything about Harvard-Westlake is beautiful, a striking beauty that is apparent to everyone on campus.
