![“[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)
Varsity girls water polo defeats Fremont High School
Jackelyn Shen (12) pulls her arm back to make a shot. The girls were down 7-1 at the end of the first half.
The varsity girls water polo team won 10-9 against Fremont High school in its second League match.
At the end of the first half, the girls were down 7-1 but came back in the second half to win the game 10-9.
“I think we really stressed out our coach Allie, but it was really awesome because it was 7-1 at half and somehow we scored like ten goals,” co-captain Anushka Das (12) said. “I am very proud of our team and I think attitude is really what changed the whole game because our attitude in the first half was super bad and then we just kind of were like ‘No we can’t lose, we can totally beat this team’ and we beat them.”
Sophomore Yasemin Narin also agreed that attitude was a major factor in turning around tonight’s game.
“At first we were kind of scattered and we were all playing individually but towards the end we started playing more as a team unit, dropping back, helping each other out, passing the ball more, looking out for people that were open,” Yasemin said.
For the team, the comeback was an unexpected one as at the end of the first half, they were in the worst position they have ever been in the entire season according to Jackelyn Shen (12).
“Getting back from that was such a great experience and I think our team needed a win because we’ve only won one league game so far so this does great for the morale of the team,” Jackelyn said.
For freshman starter Emma Brezoczky, the most exciting part of the game was when she made a five meter shot.
“I didn’t think I was very good at shooting today,” Emma said, “but then I started making more goals.”
Although it took a while for the girls to warm up and start playing to their full potential, Coach Allie Lamb was happy with the second half of the game and thought the girls played well.
“[There have been] lots of ups and downs for us this season,” Coach Allie Lamb said. “I think we have a semi young team that just needs to learn how to win games and that we’re kind of slowly starting to build that confidence.”
The girls will play their next match against Santa Clara High School this Thursday at 3:30 p.m.
Cheryl Liu is an assistant photo editor of TALON yearbook. She is a junior and has been part of the journalism program since her freshman year. Her favorite...