![“[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)
Freshman to junior classes vote for next year’s class officers
Students line up in front of the journalism room for codes to access computers to vote. Candidates for the junior class especially differed this year due to class officers who were elected to join the ASB Council.
Students cast ballots for their future class council officers and voted on a proposed measure to rotate class colors today during both lunches in the journalism room.
Students lined up according to grade, received two slips of paper with codes, and entered the codes on computers to access council and color voting.
“The process is really constant. The only thing that is different this year is the different vote for the colors, but it seems to be going smoothly,” Honor Council member Sahana Rangarajan (11) said.
Candidates delivered speeches to their respective classes on Tuesday during class meeting and on Wednesday during an assembly to address the goals they hoped to achieve in office.
“I really want to accomplish more in our fundraisers and have more class unity and get more participation in our class spirit events and work with the other class councils more,” said Spirit Coordinator candidate Haley Tran (9).
Other candidates also hoped to respond to feedback and input from members of their classes. Secretary candidate Ryan Pachauri (11) hopes to be a conduit between students and their council.
“[I want to] just make sure that everybody in the class is having lots of fun,” he said. “When people complain and everything, they don’t really do much about it, so I’m hoping that they’ll tell me about it, and I’ll do my best to actually do something about it.”
The ballot also contained votes for rotating class colors, starting with yellow for future freshmen, white for sophomores, green for juniors, and black for seniors, as opposed to keeping one color for four years. While some expressed support for for this measure because they disliked their current color, others preferred the unity offered by maintaining a single color.
“There’s no reason to change colors. It’s like you lose nationality; there’s no pride if you change colors,” sophomore Philip Krause said.
Results from the voting will be announced to the student body at next Monday’s school meeting.
Arden Hu, copy editor for the TALON Yearbook, is a senior and has been on staff for three years. She is also part of the varsity tennis team and enjoys...
Kacey Fang (12) is the Managing Editor for The Winged Post. She has been part of the journalism program since freshman year and served as Features Editor...