![“[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)
Freshman honor council representatives chosen
Millie Lin (9) and Rahul Bhethanabotla (9) were appointed freshman honor council representatives during the class meeting on Tuesday.
A total of nine candidates ran for the position: Divija Bhimaraju, Megan Cardosi, Arindam Ghosh, Sameep Mangat, Rajiv Movva, Akshaya Vemuri and Kevin Xu.
“I feel really excited about the first meeting and getting to know more about what I’m going to be doing,” Millie said. “I can’t wait for what’s coming next.”
Representatives meet for about an hour every week to discuss honor-related issues on campus. Though academic honesty is a problem, honor council representatives also try to address different challenges, such as ways of keeping the campus clean and students’ views on honor.
Honor council candidates and representatives expressed their excitement in spreading the idea of honor on the campus and offered several ideas on how to keep students informed about it.
“A lot of the ideas I had in speech I think we can still do,” Divija said. “For example, having a quarterly newsletter about the honor council would increase the amount of information, and we can also have inspirational speakers and stories distributed to inspire people to follow the rules.”
In addition to changing current views on honor, some representatives also want to get to know their fellow students.
“I’m really looking forward to working with people, especially with the other individuals who ran,” Rahul said. “There might still be opportunities in the future for people who are interested to improve the state of honor at our school.”
Honor council chair Nicholas Manjoine looks forward to integrating Millie and Rahul and their new ideas into the current honor council.
“Honor council is dedicated to making sure that students have an idea about what the honor code is, which is much more than just integrity,” Manjoine said. “It’s always really nice to ask people to consider what their values are, and whether or not they’re in accord with the honor code.”
Though freshmen have already decided on their honor council representatives, those who were not elected could possibly still play a role in honor council.
“In the future, the honor council may not necessarily be just representatives elected, and starting as early as this spring, there will be new ways to integrate honor into our school,” Divjia said. “I plan on participating in whatever those new changes might be, and continuing my contribution to honor at this school.”
The honor council plans on becoming more active and will reach out to students through updates and newsletters.
Kaitlin Hsu (11) is the Editor-in-Chief of Wingspan Magazine. In her freshmen year, she was a reporter, and in her sophomore year, she was the Features...