Diana Harvey's Amazing Four Years
Diana Harvey has been busy preparing for Advanced Placement exams and tying up the remaining loose ends of her time at Huntington High School. The senior is making every day count.
The teenager spent her early years attending East Woods School in Oyster Bay. Ms. Harvey came to Huntington Intermediate School as a fifth grader and has become an essential member of the Class of 2012. She moves around Huntington High School with ease. She is cheerful and lighthearted with a good sense of humor and a quick smile.
"The last four years at the high school have been amazing," Ms. Harvey said. "I've learned so much from my teachers and peers." The teenager has immersed herself in school, sports, activities and friends.
The senior has been on the Blue Devil varsity swimming team since seventh grade. "It has been so much fun," Ms. Harvey said. She's a very good swimmer, winning All-League and All-County honors. Her friendships with the other members of the team are strong.
Swimming helped the teenager ease into full-time high school life. "Since I was on the team in eighth grade I knew many girls already in the high school, so it made my freshman year that much better."
During Ms. Harvey's freshman and sophomore years, she was a member of the Blue Devil marching band. "It introduced me to a whole different part of the high school," she said. "Being involved in a program that has so much heart and so much passion really made me feel a sense of pride in going to Huntington."
Ms. Harvey has given the Blue Devil lacrosse program her heart and soul. As an eighth grader, she was pulled up to the junior varsity team. It was a small squad with a huge desire to win, she recalled. The teenager moved up to the varsity as a sophomore. "Coach [Nancy] Wilson really taught me so much during these three years, from improving my game to everyday life lessons," Ms. Harvey said.
Another highlight of Ms. Harvey's high school career has been her involvement in Huntington's Habitat for Humanity chapter. For the past two years, the senior has travelled with the group to areas of the country devastated by natural disasters, helping those in need to rebuild their properties and lives. The teenager is "more than grateful" that high school dean Robert Gilmor and Habitat faculty advisor has worked hard to make the club inclusive and effective and very active.
The senior gets along well with her classmates and teachers. "My relationships with teachers at Huntington have always been great," Ms. Harvey said. "I have never disliked a teacher of mine." The senior admits she has "always felt I'm a math and science type of person." She has excelled academically and was recently honored as a Distinguished Senior.
Ms. Harvey counts science teachers Deborah Beck and Judy Ann Pazienza, math teacher Joann Ferazi and social studies teacher James Graber as among her classroom favorites. "I could go on and on because the teachers here really are amazing," Ms. Harvey said.
The teenager is headed to Washington & Jefferson College in the fall. It's a small Pennsylvania school with a very good reputation. "W&J offers a five-year program where I can take classes at Columbia University, as well as W&J to get a degree in engineering," Ms. Harvey said. "If I decide that's what I want to do, I will graduate with a degree in liberal arts from W&J, as well as a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Columbia."
Ms. Harvey also plans to play college lacrosse at William & Jefferson. "Although it's going to be a huge change, I cannot wait to start college," she said. The Presidents finished the 2012 season with a 13-4 mark, losing in the ECAC Mid-Atlantic Women's Lacrosse Tournament semi-finals.
Ms. Harvey has some valuable advice for incoming Huntington High School freshmen: "Be yourself and don't sweat the small stuff. There's only four years of high school and then you have the rest of your life."