![“[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)
“The Giver” is an unsatisfactory adaptation of Lois Lowry’s Classic Novel – 2.5/5
Directed by Phillip Noyce, the film “The Giver” is yet another addition to the young adult dystopian fiction genre. The movie is interesting to watch and features great visual effects and a star-studded cast but fails to leave viewers wanting more due to the movie’s plot and intent straying too much from the original book by Lois Lowry.
Both the movie and book focus on the protagonist named Jonas, played by Brenton Thwaites, who lives in a dystopian society. In this society, all people are forced to be the exact same as everyone else in a world with no feelings, colors, or social hierarchy due to the conflict caused by these elements. Jonas is assigned to be the Receiver of Memory, the one person in the community who will get memories of how life was like with colors and feelings from the Giver. The movie follows Jonas as he receives memories and his perspective of the world changes.
The visual effects of the movie include the movie starting out in black and white before slowly changing into color as Jonas receives memories. Along with the dynamic visual effects, the actors also helped depict the repressive nature of the dystopian society with startling detail; members of the cast include Meryl Streep, Jeff Bridges, Taylor Swift, and Alexander Skarsgard. However, the excellent effects and skill of the actors were overshadowed by the movie’s flaws.
The first difference between the book and the movie is the fact that Jonas is 11 in the book but 18 in the movie. Since Jonas is much older, the movie also includes a romantic aspect that is not present in the book. Also, there is an action scene and chase added at the end of the movie as Jonas is trying to escape the society that he lives in. Adding the romance and action scenes make the story stray from the intention of Lowry’s book; the movie starts to resemble the “Hunger Games” or “Divergent” when the story is meant to be a children’s classic not an action-packed teen romance novel.
“The Giver” retains most of the plot details of the book but fails to convey these details in a meaningful way on screen. Despite its flaws, the film earned a 7.1/10 on IMDb and a B+ on Cinemascore, but other critics were not as generous. Metascore gave the movie a 46/100 and Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a “rotten” rating of 32 percent. “The Giver” was entertaining to watch but could not live up to the expectations of Lowry’s classic novel; the movie became just another generic addition to the young adult genre.
Kshithija “KJ” Mulam (12) is the Winged Post Editor-in-Chief. Serving as the Winged Post News Editor in her junior year, Winged Post Photo Editor in...