![“[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)
Float parade carries on a recently developed tradition
Members of the jazz band play music for the audience, as students from each grade level showcase their float. These members were already familiar with the songs they were going to play, but still had to put themselves in the mindset of having fun and showing their spirit.
Held Wednesday during long lunch, the “Panoply of Chaos” featured students marching around the campus proudly presenting their class floats, while the jazz band lead the line playing upbeat music to excite the large audience.
Annually, each class spends hours on end constructing a themed float for the float parade. With the use of plastic toys, styrofoam shapes, spray paint, cardboard and more, each class is able to create a float from just a red wagon. This has been an enjoyable tradition of Harker’s homecoming spirit week, but it has only been around for a few years.
“I think it was probably in 2011, we eliminated some stuff from homecoming, and we decided to just have a cut-loose deal,” Victor Adler, freshman class dean said.
The parade was additionally organized by the student body itself. “I think Spirit Club came up with it, and we’ve been doing it for three or four years now,” Kerry Enzensperger, the Student Activities Coordinator, said. “It’s just fun to just see everyone come out and cheer for all the classes and everything getting paraded around so everybody sees it and it draws out a lot of people.”
The parade is not only an enjoyable annual activity, but also brings together the people of each class.
“People, both new and old students here, were able to come together on a project that truly represented our student body as a whole,” said Jimmy Lin, the freshman class president. “We were able to demonstrate our class pride.”
Jimmy feels that working on a class-wide project is essential for the freshmen, since they are still being introduced to aspect of class spirit.
“It [is] very brave and enlightening”, said Michael Jin (10), a member of Harker’s Jazz band. “It [is] great to see the school to come together for such a heartwarming event.”
Originally, the parade was not as popular among the student body.
“The first time, people didn’t know what it was about, so they were kind of just hanging out,” Adler said.
On Friday, there will be the annual homecoming rally, comprised of a variety of fun activities for the Upper School to show off its spirit.
Eleanor Xiao is a junior and Co-Student Life Editor for TALON Yearbook. This is Eleanor's third year on staff. In her free time, Eleanor enjoys dancing,...
Eric Jeong (9) is a reporter for Talon. In Journalism, he enjoys meeting new people and learning new things. In his free time, he plays basketball and...