![“[Building nerf blasters] became this outlet of creativity for me that hasn't been matched by anything else. The process [of] making a build complete to your desire is such a painstakingly difficult process, but I've had to learn from [the skills needed from] soldering to proper painting. There's so many different options for everything, if you think about it, it exists. The best part is [that] if it doesn't exist, you can build it yourself," Ishaan Parate said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DSC_8149-900x604.jpg)
![“When I came into high school, I was ready to be a follower. But DECA was a game changer for me. It helped me overcome my fear of public speaking, and it's played such a major role in who I've become today. To be able to successfully lead a chapter of 150 students, an officer team and be one of the upperclassmen I once really admired is something I'm [really] proud of,” Anvitha Tummala ('21) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-25-at-9.50.05-AM-900x594.png)
![“I think getting up in the morning and having a sense of purpose [is exciting]. I think without a certain amount of drive, life is kind of obsolete and mundane, and I think having that every single day is what makes each day unique and kind of makes life exciting,” Neymika Jain (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Screen-Shot-2017-06-03-at-4.54.16-PM.png)
![“My slogan is ‘slow feet, don’t eat, and I’m hungry.’ You need to run fast to get where you are–you aren't going to get those championships if you aren't fast,” Angel Cervantes (12) said. “I want to do well in school on my tests and in track and win championships for my team. I live by that, [and] I can do that anywhere: in the classroom or on the field.”](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/DSC5146-900x601.jpg)
![“[Volleyball has] taught me how to fall correctly, and another thing it taught is that you don’t have to be the best at something to be good at it. If you just hit the ball in a smart way, then it still scores points and you’re good at it. You could be a background player and still make a much bigger impact on the team than you would think,” Anya Gert (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AnnaGert_JinTuan_HoHPhotoEdited-600x900.jpeg)
![“I'm not nearly there yet, but [my confidence has] definitely been getting better since I was pretty shy and timid coming into Harker my freshman year. I know that there's a lot of people that are really confident in what they do, and I really admire them. Everyone's so driven and that has really pushed me to kind of try to find my own place in high school and be more confident,” Alyssa Huang (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AlyssaHuang_EmilyChen_HoHPhoto-900x749.jpeg)
Japan Club hosted a snack tasting event during long lunch today, featuring various Japanese treats in an effort to encourage students to try new foods and join the club.
“Last year, we wanted to do a cooking event, so early in the year we had a cooking demo with a Japanese dessert,” Japan Club president Suchita Nety (12) said. “Usually our club doesn’t have that many members, but when we did the food thing, we got a lot of people, so we thought that we should do more things related to food.”
Japan Club held the event to rouse interest and encourage students to attend its meetings. In addition to cooking Japanese food, Japan Club also watches movies, makes crafts such as origami, and plays games.
The club set up a table with plates full of Japanese snacks, including seaweed, sea urchin and curry flavored crackers, wasabi peas, jelly cake, and different types of candy. For the main dish, Japan Club members and Japanese teacher Keiko Irino prepared takoyaki, or octopus balls, by pouring a batter into a special takoyaki pan with round holes, placing octopus in the middle, then rolling the dough over to form balls.
Although members initially prepared the dish inside Irino’s classroom, the heat from the miniature stove caused the smoke alarm to go off, forcing them to move the cooking to outside.
Students, both Japan Club members and others, milled around the classroom while chatting and enjoying the Japanese treats. The event allowed several students to sample various types of Japanese cuisine.
“It’s a really fun event and it encourages people to come out and try new things,” Maya Nandakumar (10) said.
Later in the year, Japan Club hopes to take a field trip to a Japanese restaurant to continue with the tradition of experiencing Japanese culture through food.
