![“[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)
Girls varsity tennis advances to second round of CCS
Connie Miao (10) hits the ball with a backhand swing during the first round of CCS against York School. The second round of CCS against Menlo School took place at 2 p.m. today at Menlo School.
Girls varsity tennis defeated York School 4-3 in the first round of CCS yesterday at the Decathlon Club to advance to the second round of CCS.
Number one singles player Isabelle Gross (11) lost her match 1-2, while Arden Hu (12) and Gloria Guo (9) both won their singles matches in straight sets. First doubles team, Era Iyer (10) and Connie Miao (10) narrowly won the first set of their match 7-5 and then dominated the second set 6-0. Number two doubles, Karina Butani (9) and Maya Valluru (10) won their match 6-2, 6-2, while third doubles, Kathleen Cheng (9) and Aliesa Bahri (9) lost.
Kathleen attributes the team’s success to being placed against a team that had not competed in CCS in 12 years.
“I think we were pretty motivated to win because we’ve put in a lot of hours for this, but I also guess we got lucky for the team we got put against,” she said.
Isabelle shares this sentiment, adding that girls felt motivated to finish the season on a good note.
“We wanted to end the season trying our best and doing as well as possible, and I guess we just took care of business,” she said.
The team played Menlo School in the second round of CCS at 2 p.m. today at Menlo School. The girls lost all seven matches to Menlo, ending the year’s tennis season.
Riya Godbole is the Lifestyle Editor of The Winged Post. She is a senior and has been part of the journalism program since her freshman year. Her favorite...