![“[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)
Fall sports update
KJ Mulam
Vienna Wang (10) swings at the ball. The team’s current season record as of Oct. 13 is 4-2-1.
Varsity Cross Country
The Cross Country team hopes to qualify for CCS championships.
“We had our first league meet, and finished right in the middle of the pack, and were missing some of our top runners, so that predicts that hopefully we will be in the top half in the league championships,” Head Coach Scott Chisam said. “If we are, then we qualify for CCS. That will be a real big accomplishment.”
The team runs their next meet today at 3p.m.
Varsity Football
The Varsity Football team holds a current record of 1-4. The team remains optimistic for the rest of season and looks forward to the growth of their team with the addition of new members.
“We don’t have the wins yet or the impressive record, but we’re a young team, we’ll get back on the right track. I think we’re setting ourselves up for a good future,” Nikhil Ramgiri (11) said.
Their next game is today at 7 p.m. versus California School for the Deaf.
Varsity Girls Golf
The Varsity Girls Golf team holds a current record of 3-1-1.
“It’s been so rewarding being part of the golf team this season. We have a really great team of enthusiastic, motivated golfers and we have a lot of fun together,” Alexis Gauba said (10). “We’ve all been working hard on improving our golf games and the results have been translating into our matches.”
The girls have also enjoyed bonding together through fun activities.
“The highlight of our season was when our coach took us to Purdance, a dance studio, and hired a professional dancer to teach us how to dance to K-pop songs.” Vanessa Tyagi said (9).
The girls play their next game tonight at 3:30p.m. vs. Sacred Heart Preparatory School.
Varsity Girls Tennis
The Varsity Girls Tennis team holds a season record of 4-2 after seeing a significant increase in players this year.
“It’s been great, we’ve had a lot of new players. There’s been a lot of excitement, a lot of growth, a lot of bonding,” Head Coach John Fruttero said.
The girls play their next game today at 3:30p.m. vs. Menlo School.
Varsity Girls Volleyball
The Varsity Girls Volleyball is proud of the competitiveness they display on the court, holding a record of 3-4.
“It’s been very challenging because we’ve played a lot of really high quality teams, and although we’ve been very competitive with a majority of these teams, we’re struggling to win the matches,” Head Coach Theresa Smith said. “We’re winning with regard to being able to compete really well with these teams, but we haven’t actually won the games.”
The girls play Sacred Heart Preparatory School today at 5:45p.m.
Varsity Girls Water Polo
Though the Varsity Girls Water Polo team started the season of slow, with a current record of 2-5, they remain optimistic for the rest of season.
“So far, our season has been going good, but we’ve had some setbacks. We’ve lost to a few teams that we definitely could have beaten, but we can only grow from here,” Yasemin Narin (11) said. “We’re putting more effort into practice, and we’re making sure that we’ll come to those teams, and we’ll get the win.”
The girls play Santa Clara High School today at 3:30p.m.
Varsity Boys Water Polo
The Varsity Boys Water Polo team currently holds a record of 4-2 with high hopes for the future.
“So our season has been going actually really well,” Aadyot Bhatnagar(12) said. It’s significantly better than what we’ve been doing, so I’m pretty pumped about the last half of the season.”
The boys play Santa Clara High School today at 4:30p.m.
This piece was originally published in the pages of the Winged Post on October 16, 2014.
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...
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