![“[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)
Students participate in pumpkin carving spirit event
The representatives of each class for the pumpkin carving spirit event gathered at their designated table with their pumpkin in front of Manzanita Hall today on Wednesday during long lunch.
Five people from each class are recruited for each carving, but people can watch the carving process.
The freshman class started on carving out the stem of their pumpkin while the juniors and Sophomores were focused on emptying the inside of the pumpkin. The seniors did not carve out the insides of their pumpkin.
Arjun Ashok (12), Spirit Commissioner of the senior class, mentioned how the event can bring people together by of the amount of teamwork needed for the competition.
“I think pumpkin carving is really cool, because it’s one of those things where it’s like, in the spirit of the season. Plus, it gets a good amount of people participating; it’s a creative thing, but people can still have fun with it,” he said, “It brings your classes together.”
Spirit Commissioner for the sophomore class Haley Tran (10) mentions how the event is linked into the current season as its tradition.
“It’s just a tradition for Halloween, but it’s also a class competition so we want to do better than other classes,” she said. “I think we in a sense, since we get to see everyone else’s pumpkin, it’s like unifying for the whole school.”
Edward Sheu (11), Spirit Commissioner of the junior class, believes that spirit events help people come together.
“I mean, you can never have enough spirit events,” he said. “It’s always nice to have something where people can come out and just have some fun with an event and I mean, a little competitive element’s good too, but overall it’s just a great experience where everyone can participate.”
Jimmy Lin (9), President of the freshman class, stands by his classmates, observing on how their progress on the carving is going. He believes that events like pumpkin carving really helps bond the classes together.
“It’s a lot of fun, being able to see that we are all able to get together and just work together for a better day,” he said. “It really brings us all together and helps us to understand our fellow members of our class that we’re going to be with for the next four years of our high school lives.”
The event ended with the seniors winning first, sophomores second, juniors third and freshman fourth.
On Halloween today, students are permitted to put their creativity to use and dress up in costumes.
Emma Yu (9) is a reporter for The Winged Post. In her free time, she usually draws, surfs the internet, and hopes for no tests in the upcoming weeks of...