![“[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)
TSA competes in State Conference
Twelve members of Harker’s Technology Student Association (TSA) competed in the TSA State Conference at Diamond Bar High School this past weekend and won over a dozen awards in the various categories.
Students had a selection of 33 events that they could enter ranging from structural engineering to technology bowl to fashion design.
Sophia Luo (10), president and founder of the TSA club, won first place in both of her events at the conference. She expressed her delight at Harker’s performance at the conference.
“It was also very fulfilling when I saw that every single one of Harker TSA members win at least one award at the conference,” she said.
Sophia worked with club advisor, Anthony Silk, in preparation for the conference, organizing resources and study sessions, as well as travel logistics.
As TSA is a relatively new organization in California, founded in 2011, Sophia hopes to be part of it’s expansion.
“I hope that more schools will have TSA chapters so that future conferences will be more fun and competitive. I am already planning on reaching out to my friends outside of Harker to start one,” she said. “I hope that California TSA will continue to grow in the next few years before I graduate so I can witness it’s overall growth later.”
Students had the opportunity to discuss the future path of TSA in California and interact with other TSA clubs to improve the new branch of the organization.
Silk commented on this saying “It was more than just doing well on the engineering side of the competition, I think we did really well just in helping the club grow.”
Silk also described the experience of running a new club.
“It’s been a lot of fun, it’s a lot of challenges, which I knew were going to happen, but it’s great helping the students navigate through those challenges as we try to figure out how to get the club up and running,” he said.
Misha Tseitlin (9), a TSA member who did not compete this year, but worked on a project, talks about his interest to still continue with the club.
“I’ll do it next year, I will be doing the same events next year, because now I have a solid enough background,” he said.
Eric Cheung (11), Cynthia Hao (10), Ashwini Iyer (11), Alex Jang (11), Rahul Jayaraman (11), Sophia Luo (10), Neil Movva (11), Manthra Panchapakesan (11), Roshni Pankhaniya (11), Karen Qi (10), Sriram Somasundaram (11), and Eric Wang (11) were the students who attended this year’s state conference.
Many students will continue on to compete at the National Conference in Washington, D.C. from June 27 through July 1.
Alexis Gauba is a reporter for The Winged Post. She is a freshman, and it is her first year on the staff. Alexis is on the varsity girls golf team and...