![“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)
![“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)
![“[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)
![“Animation just clicked in a way. I had been interested in art, but that felt different. [Animation] felt like it had something behind it, whereas previous things felt surface level. I wasn't making that crazy of things, but just the process of doing it was much more enjoyable," Carter Chadwick ('22) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Screen-Shot-2022-08-16-at-9.44.08-AM-900x598.png)
Girls’ soccer lose to Kings Academy in bid for CCS
Ellen J. Austin
Joelle Anderson (9) and Nikita Parulkar (11) work together to keep the ball away from their opponent. The girls’ lost their league playoff game against Kings Academy 2-1.
Making it to league playoffs for the first time in the school’s history, the varsity girls’ soccer team lost to Kings Academy today 2-1.
Harker Eagles played the Kings Academy Knights at 4 p.m. at Kings Academy.
Neither team scored during the first half, but the Eagles took the lead at the start of the second. With 22 minutes left on the clock, Nikita Parulkar (11) scored the game’s first goal.
The girls maintained the 1-0 on the scoreboard for almost 17 minutes, until the Knights managed to tie the score at 1-1 with only six minutes and 30 seconds remaining in the game.
The Knights scored their second and final goal with just one minute on the clock, stealing a close win from the Eagles.
Despite their loss, the hard work and effort put in by the varsity girls’ soccer team this season was not in vain. Under new Head Coach John Docherty and Asst. Coach Andrew Ransome, the team made it farther than ever before this season.
The girls qualified as league champions as a result of their 4-0 win against Summit Prep on Tuesday, and they are the first Harker girls’ soccer team to move on to the CCS tournament.
The team ended their regular season 12-2-1 overall and 8-1-1 in league. Kings Academy ranks fourth place in WBAL’s Foothill Division.
Juhi Gupta is the Multimedia Editor for Harker Aquila. She is a junior and has been part of the journalism program since her freshman year. Her position...
Sheridan Tobin is the co-Editor in Chief of The Winged Post. She is a senior and this is her fourth year on staff. She was the Global Editor and Opinion...