![Setter Emma Lee (9) sets the ball to the middle during the match against Pinewood on Sept. 12. “[I’m looking forward to] getting more skilled, learning more about my position and also becoming better friends with all of my teammates, Emma said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/DSC_4917-2-1200x795.jpg)
![“[Building nerf blasters] became this outlet of creativity for me that hasnt been matched by anything else. The process [of] making a build complete to your desire is such a painstakingly difficult process, but Ive had to learn from [the skills needed from] soldering to proper painting. Theres so many different options for everything, if you think about it, it exists. The best part is [that] if it doesnt 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 wasnt 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)
![“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 its played such a major role in who Ive 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 Im [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)
![“[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)
![“Im 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 theres a lot of people that are really confident in what they do, and I really admire them. Everyones 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)
![“My slogan is ‘slow feet, don’t eat, and I’m hungry.’ You need to run fast to get where you are–you arent going to get those championships if you arent 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)
![“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)
Main Hall became Diagon Alley. Shah Hall was Azkaban Prison. The Edge was renamed the Great Ha11. The front loading zone transformed into Platform ’11 and ¾. On Thursday, November 11, the senior class transformed the Upper School campus into Hogwarts in spirit of their homecoming week dress up day.
The seniors dressed up like the various Harry Potter characters and renamed school buildings to places in J.K. Rowling’s best-selling Harry Potter. Out of 164 students, 159 dressed up.
“A lot of the seniors stayed really late last night decorating the entire Main Hall and making it look really great… It was really great to see the senior class come together to put on such a great performance for the school and really show our spirit and such,” class president Hassaan Ebrahim (12) said.
In place of weekly advisory meetings, Thursday’s class competition was a pool relay. Four swimmers from each class had to pass on a t-shirt from one person to the next, put on goggles, hold a wand, and swim across the pool while pushing a “golden snitch” with their faces.
Junior Lucy Cheng participated in the relay.
“It was fun [representing our class], and it was pretty cool because it was spirit. And our class is doing a lot better this year,” Lucy said.
The results for the pool relay were seniors in first place, sophomores took second, juniors third, and freshmen last.
Hassaan said, “I think today went really well… Although there was some confusion with the rules, we did win the relay, which was really great. We felt we deserved the victory. A lot of our advisors jumped in for the belly flop contest, and so it was really great to see the support of our advisors in the event.
The overall homecoming week results were announced at the game on Friday and during school meeting on Monday. Juniors took first place, sophomores placed second, seniors a surprising third, and freshmen rounded out the scoring in fourth after a great effort.
