![“[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)
Spirit Night prepares each class for Homecoming week
Two seniors work on their eagle. The senior’s homecoming theme this year is Batman, causing them to make the eagle mainly black.
Spirit members, student council members and volunteers gathered together during Spirit Night yesterday in preparation for Homecoming next week.
The event kicked off at about 5 p.m. Each class started decorating and painting it’s model of an eagle, started creating an unique skit and started building their own float. The projects are based off of the class themes. This year, the overall theme is mythical places. The freshman’s design was Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, sophomore’s was Frozen, junior’s was Hogwarts, and senior’s was Batman. In addition, the students placed posters and decorations around Manzanita Hall, bringing more spirit to the community.
Many student council members came to Spirit Night, even though it was not required.
“I thought that we did really well. We definitely worked together really well,” said Jimmy Lin, the newly elected freshman president. “We might have come off to a slow start in the beginning, but towards the end, regarding our eagle, float and skit we made a lot of progress, and we made really good use of time thanks to the teamwork.”
Student and faculty members also volunteered to help. By 6 p.m., everyone had settled in, and there were about twenty to twenty-five students helping for each class.
“I think that the turnout was great,” said Alex Mo (10), who helped paint the eagle. “A lot of people came out to work on our class projects which was a great help. We got through quite a bit too. I believe that all projects progressed.
The event itself was hosted by Spirit Club members. They provided Chipotle, played music and helped out their own individual classes.
“I think it was really successful.” Spirit Club co-President Julia Wang (12) said. “Everyone had like a really fun time while they were working on everything like the eagle, the skit, the floats and that like everyone just worked really well together also like supported each other.”
According to other participants, everyone got to bond with their peers while also being able to have fun painting, decorating, and acting.
Because the freshmen and sophomores did not complete the projects, they plan to meet again on Monday which is a no school day so students can rest. Each class is going to present its eagle, skit and float next week.
Neil Bai (12) is the senior copy editor for Harker Aquila and is tasked with copy editing and approving all articles before they are published. Neil’s...