![“[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)
The Harker Compliments Facebook page, initiated on January 17, allows students to commend other members of the community without revealing their identities.
Students can send a message containing a compliment to the page, which will then post the remark by tagging the student addressed.
As stated in its first post, Harker Compliments is “devoted to make people happy and nurture a sense of community.” The page is modeled after compliment pages of other local high schools, such as Cupertino High School, Monta Vista High School, and Lynbrook High School. Each of these pages started in mid-January.
The identity of the page creator has not been revealed, and the starter does not plan on sharing it in the future.
“Just think of us an organization to nurture the Harker community,” a post said. “It’s not even about our identities that are important but rather the goals of this site. Just think of us an entity, Harker Compliments.”
In an email interview with TalonWP, the starter of the page said that complimenting others truly makes people feel better about themselves.
“I had the idea [to start a compliments page] for about a month, but it really clicked me to make one when I saw how good people felt about themselves from the compliment sites,” the page creator said.
According to the page creator, the expectations of the page are being met because it is nurturing a sense of community.
“I had hoped that people would like the site and interact with it, which is fortunately what happened,” the creator said. “I think it’s really making people feel good.”
The page starter, however, mentioned that there were a couple issues concerning the privacy level people want and the appropriateness of compliments.
Several students think that sharing compliments through the Facebook page is a nice gesture.
“I think it’s pretty sweet that people actually got out of their way to compliment me and other people,” Andrew Luo (12) said. “I actually don’t know who they are, but a big thank you to them.”
Junior Shivani Gillon agreed, but she mentioned that she thinks it is more practical to compliment friends face-to-face.
“I think it’s cute. It’s a good way to say nice things to your friends,” Shivani said.
Looking into the future, the starter of the page is considering to create a Google website through which people can easily submit compliments for each other.
