![LALC Vice President of External Affairs Raeanne Li (11) explains the International Phonetic Alphabet to attendees. "We decided to have more fun topics this year instead of just talking about the same things every year so our older members can also [enjoy],” Raeanne said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/DSC_4627-1200x795.jpg)
![“[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)
San Francisco bids for 2024 Olympic games
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San Francisco is one of the top four finalists for the U.S. bid for the 2024 Olympic games. The U.S. Olympic Committee is set to make their decision as early as tomorrow.
2024 might seem monumentally far away, but the United States Olympic Committee is expected to announce their selected bid as early as tomorrow for the 2024 summer Olympic games.
San Francisco is one of four top cities of which the board of directors of the Olympic Committee is deliberating on. They are currently meeting in Denver, Colorado to make their final decision between San Francisco and the three other finalists: Los Angeles, Boston and Washington D.C.
The San Francisco bid stirred up controversy among many. A coalition known as “San Francisco No 2024 Olympics,” which formed in December, sent a letter to the U.S. Olympic Committee addressing their fears about the billions of dollars that would go into the games. A variety of other unions and local activists around the Bay Area have been sharing similar concerns over how the money should be used to help solve prevalent social issues or local businesses.
Supporters of the games say that hosting an Olympics in San Francisco would benefit the local economy by creating new infrastructure, jobs, transportation facilities and would also give the Bay Area a lasting legacy.
Harker students share their own opinions on the games being held in San Francisco.
“It’s hard to think of something that’s going to happen so far from now, but it would be amazing to have the Olympics held in San Francisco,” Laya Indukuri (12) said. “It would just be really exciting for it to be here in our hometown.”
Alexis Gauba (10) agreed that hosting the Olympics would be beneficial to the community.
“I think that it could be a really unique experience for San Francisco to host the Olympics,” she said. “As the global center of technology, design, and innovation, the stadiums would be world class, as already displayed by the recently built Levi’s stadium, and it would be a great opportunity for companies in the area to showcase new technologies.”
The last time the United States hosted the Olympics was in Atlanta in 1996. The International bidding will begin in the coming fall, and the International Olympic Committee plans to pick the final winner in 2017.
Additional reporting done by Ria Gandhi (10).
Megy Appalaraju (12) is the Sports Editor of Harker Aquila. This is her second year in the Harker journalism program. Her favorite part about journalism...