![“[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)
On April 16, 26 Upper School students participated in the California Future Problem Solving (FPS) State Bowl held in Hillsborough, at Nueva School.
The team of Daanish Jamal (11), Jackie Jin (11), Ananth Subramaniam (11), and Jennie Xu (11) placed first in the senior division of the global issues booklet competition, while the team of Ria Desai (10), Sonia Gupta (10), Pooja Shah (10), and Emily Wang (10) placed second.
Both groups, as well as Shelby Rorabaugh (10) who was the first place finalist in the scenario writing competition, will compete in the International Conference in June at the University of Wisconsin.
“I was really excited to qualify because I didn’t have any expectations at all since senior division seemed so difficult,” Ria said. “I’m really happy to even get second place. That was a major accomplishment for me and my team.”
Fourth place was awarded to the team of Akshay Tangutur (11), Laura Yau (11), Chaitanya Malladi (11) and Prag Batra (11).
In the global issues booklet competition, competitors read a future problem scene, identified challenges, created solutions, and wrote an action plan that solved the underlying problem. The teams were given two hours to complete the packet, which were then graded by judges on location. Although the presentation of the action plan, also known as the skit, was not judged to qualify teams for the international bowl, it was still an integral and much awaited part of the competition.
In the middle division, the team including Nikhil Dilip (9), Saachi Jain (9), Rahul Sridhar (9), Andrew Wang (9), and Andrew Zhu (9) earned first place in the presentation of the action plan, while in the senior division, the team of Ria, Sonia, Pooja, and Emily placed second.
Ananth, the president-elect of the FPS club, said that competing in the state bowl was overall a “great experience.”
“The competition at Nueva [had] a great atmosphere. [Events like this are] always a great time to bond with everyone else in the FPS club,” Ananth said.
The students also took time during the competition to recognize FPS participants who were in their final year of the program, including senior and current club president Olivia Zhu (12).
The club has expanded this year, sending more competitors to the State Bowl than in years past. Additionally, two teams from the junior division participated in the State competition — the most in the club’s history.
