![“[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 Red Cross Club held its annual blood drive today, organized in conjunction with Blood Centers of the Pacific, as a part of its club week.
Over the last few weeks, Red Cross members encouraged students and faculty to donate blood. The club met its sign-up goal which guaranteed a slimeing of the ASB cabinet at a later date.
Red Cross President Preeya Mehta (12) was impressed by the community’s response.
“In the past years when I was here […] there weren’t that many people who were that interested. This year, we got people who were on the fence […] The response that I’ve gotten from people who’ve donated is really positive,” Preeya said.
A prospective donor had to meet certain height, weight, and iron requirements, have parental consent, and been unexposed to diseases such as malaria. Although some people were ineligible to donate, “people were trying to get their friends to donate and raising awareness,” according to Red Cross Activities Coordinator Sonia Sidhu (12).
Once they filled out a medical history form, donors were administered an iron test. If the iron level was high enough, they were hooked up to a machine which pumped out one pint of blood, which was estimated to save the lives of three people. Finally, the donors were asked to eat sugar-filled snacks to maintain their blood sugar levels and rest for the remainder of the day.
Junior Divya Kalidindi has wanted to donate for a long time but was unable to do so because of her age. She became a first-time donor this year to help others in need.
“Just to think that seven minutes of your time can save three people is really cool,” Divya said.
Sonia, who organized the drive, felt that the event was a way to connect the school community with the services of Red Cross.
“I think this is one of the lines of service that the general community can get involved in. And I know there’s a lot of people here eligible to donate […] The need for blood is so constant: blood is needed every two seconds in the US,” she said.
The blood donated to the drive was collected by Blood Centers of the Pacific and will be distributed to local hospitals by the San Jose chapter of the Red Cross.
