![“[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)
Next week, freshmen, sophomores, and juniors will select which Recreate Reading group they will join for their free choice summer reading assignment.
Recreate Reading is a program organized by the library that allows students to choose a book to read over summer instead of assigned summer reading. Each book has a faculty sponsor who leads a group of students in discussion at the start of the school year.
“You get to choose what you like to read,” Jacqueline Chen (9) said. “You have more options, so it’s not like you’re forced to read a book you’re not really interested in.”
Unlike previous years, students will not have the option of choosing a literature genre but can pick one out of 69 individual books. This year’s selection offers a wide variety of books, both fiction and nonfiction, from well known contemporary novels such as The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky and The Fault in Our Stars by John Green to specified nonfiction titles such as How Old is the Universe? by David A. Weintraub and Peddling Prosperity by Paul Krugman.
“I don’t think the list of books is something that any one person could create,” said librarian Lauri Vaughan, who has read about a third of the books offered this year. “This is such an incredibly eclectic [group of books].”
In addition to traditional fiction and nonfiction, unique choices for Recreate Reading will be available this year. For example, Dean of Studies Evan Barth will be leading a group of students in reading a summer’s worth of columns from TIME magazine weekly columnist Joel Stein.
Vaughan commented that the inclusion of a column option in this year’s recreate reading “is a great opportunity to sort of legitimize that choice of pleasure reading to read magazines.”
She further mentioned that she is most excited about the book Spillover sponsored by Dr. Kate Schafer. Students in this group will have the chance to Skype with science journalist and adventure writer David Quammen.
“[Recreate Reading] is nice because we get to read a book we wouldn’t normally read in school,” Kailas Vodrahalli (10) said.
All the selections are accessible on harker.libguides.com/read, accompanied by short videos by the faculty sponsor, as well as on display in the library for students to peruse. Next Tuesday, rising seniors will make their choices, followed by rising juniors on Wednesday and rising sophomores on Thursday.
Upon returning to school next September, students will meet in groups to discuss their experience with the book.
