![LALC Vice President of External Affairs Raeanne Li (11) explains the International Phonetic Alphabet to attendees. "We decided to have more fun topics this year instead of just talking about the same things every year so our older members can also [enjoy],” Raeanne said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/DSC_4627-1200x795.jpg)
![“[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)
Classes hold election speeches for voting tomorrow
Class Vice President candidate Ankita Sharma (10) presents her electoral speech at today’s class meeting using a metaphor of a potato and carrot to relate to the class. Voting will be held during both lunches tomorrow.
With student council elections coming up tomorrow, candidates presented their speeches to their respective classes today.
While the seniors learned about graduation, the other classes listened to their student council candidates introduce their ideas and opinions for the future.
For the freshman class, the President, Vice President, and Secretary all ran unopposed, while the positions of Spirit Coordinator and Treasurer had multiple candidates. Ray Song (9), class of 2017 Treasurer candidate, ran for student council for the first time. He was inspired to run for Treasurer after seeing Shikhar Dixit (11) run for ASB Secretary.
“I’ve always had this idea to run, but I wasn’t sure at the time,”he explained. “Shiki showed me that he really wanted to do something for the class and then he went for it.”
While it was his first speech, Song was still pleased with the outcome, he was glad that his class was able to hear his ideas.
On the other hand, sophomore Edward Sheu, returning candidate and current Spirit Coordinator, felt the pressure of having to say his speech after other candidates.
“With speeches going before you, you feel the need to perform at the same level if not higher of those who went before you,” he said.
Only the Vice President, Spirit Coordinator, and Treasurer candidates had to present their speeches as the unopposed President and Secretary had given their speeches during class meeting yesterday.
“[Candidates] were very enthusiastic. There were definitely [speeches] that stood out,” Aarti Kheskani (10) said.
For example, Vice President candidate Ankita Sharma (10) incorporated root vegetables into her speech by comparing the sophomore class to carrots and potatoes, even bringing a carrot and potato as props for today. She was inspired by dinner the night she was writing her speech.
“I was hungry at the same time and started thinking about having roasted veggies for dinner and then I got to the idea that our class was vegetative…When I started writing my speech, this entire analogy to do with vegetables came out,” she said.
The juniors, with the majority of their class council now newly elected ASB members, experienced an increase in candidates. The speeches began yesterday with President and Vice President and finished today with the remaining position candidates. Spirit Coordinator candidate Arjun Ashok (11) decided to run not because of the opening spots,but because of his true passion for spirit.
“I ran for spirit coordinator because I wanted to try to make senior year the best it can be,” he said. “I love the class and being able to run for a position that involves like bonding or what not really appealed to me.”
Voting begins tomorrow during both lunches with the addition of voting on changing class colors.
Daphne Liang is a reporter for TALON Yearbook. She is a sophomore and has been a part of the journalism program since her freshman year. Daphne is also...
Jonathan Dai (12) is the editor-in-chief of TALON. This is his fourth year in journalism, and he was previously the photo editor. In his free time, he...