![“[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)
School meeting recap 3/3
Vasudha Rengarajan and Maya Jeyendran
Members of Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (WiSTEM) opened today’s school meeting with an announcement about STEM Week, which is this week. Activities include bake sales during extra helps and advisory and a STEM Fair. Proceeds will go to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Tanzania.
CareerConnect will be hosting the Medicine Panel, the first installment of the Career Panel Series, this Wednesday during long lunch. The event will feature several speakers including radiologist Neha Vibhakar and cosmetic dentist Deepika Jain.
Student curators of TEDx Glenn Reddy (11) and Brian Tuan (12) also announced the upcoming TEDx conference on March 22 where six keynote speakers and senior Arjun Mehta will speak to high school students from all over the Bay Area. Ticket price currently stands at $9.99 starting this week and prices will increase next week.
Improv Troupe will host another Coffee House from 5 to 7 p.m. this Friday, preceding the annual Spanish Cultural Night. Open to all Spanish students and students who have taken a Spanish course in past years, cultural night will have a salsa dancing contest and Spanish cuisine.
Students Sheridan Tobin (11) and Shannon Hong (10) introduced The Princess Project, an organization that provides free prom dresses for girls who come from low-income families. A garment rack will be stationed in Manzanita for students to donate dresses.
Varsity girls’ lacrosse team will be honoring Jason Berry, former coach and English teacher who passed away this past August, at its season opener and first home game against Sequoia High School on Thursday at 4 p.m.
Varsity boys’ basketball team won 49-42 last Saturday and will play against Seaside High school at Menlo in the Central Coast Section (CSS) Semifinals tomorrow.
Spirit Club called up members of student council from each class to randomly pick two themes and one genre and genres for the Spring Rally dance. Results are as follows:
Seniors: Jazz, folk, Mexico
Juniors: Mariachi, Bollywood, Africa
Sophomores: Disney songs, indie music, Russia
Freshmen: Disco, oldies, Australia
The lunch grades for the week of Feb. 24 were B, B, B, C, D.
There will be an alternate schedule tomorrow for an assembly.
A member of the journalism program since freshman year, senior Allison Sun is the Features Editor and Webmaster of Harker Aquila. She was also TalonWP...