![“[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)
Students walking into Manzanita Hall during lunch Wednesday afternoon found balloons, boxes of Lego pieces, and manila envelopes offering a secret challenge to each class.
Each class was addressed with a message: “Here is your Top Secret Mission, should you choose to accept it.”
Spirit Club advisors Kerry Enzensperger and Jason Berry set up a surprise class competition to create something that represents the school using a minimum of 500 Lego pieces. As of press time, the winner had not yet been announced.
“Our goal was just to have a secret class competition, something that people didn’t have to think about or prepare for,” Enzensperger said. “Spirit Club had different ideas that they voted on, but [Mr. Berry and I] just went and did it today and surprised everyone.”
Unlike spirit events in the past, this one had not been mentioned or publicized before the competition itself.
“It was kind of interesting because they didn’t give us any warning at all,” Max Isenberg (11) said.
Once members of each class had discovered the envelope with their mission, students quickly began working on ideas to make their own Lego creation unique.
“I actually really liked it when I saw the creativity and ingenuity of seeing what we can build with just 500 Lego pieces,” Revanth Kosaraju (11) said. “Plus it was a lot of fun having everyone work on it together.”
Some students, including Sean Martin (12), thought that the surprise element made the event “very disorganized.”
“A lot of people didn’t realize it had started or that it was going on,” Nidhi Gandhi (12). “The other thing is that they made a mistake in writing the rules, saying that it was supposed to finish at 11:45 when it actually ended at 12:45.”
The typo on the sheet of rules was quickly corrected by an announcement from Enzensperger, though most classes were already far along after working quickly through the first half hour.
Students like Simar Mangat (10) found overall that the Lego pieces triggered a sense of nostalgia, “bringing back good childhood memories for all of us.”
