![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)
Janda and Muldrew hold LIFE assembly for freshmen
LIFE took place yesterday for the freshmen class during the assembly period. Teachers Mark Janda and Lola Muldrew led the assembly, talking to the students on the topics of privilege, opportunity and identity.
Students first gathered in the Nichols Atrium to learn more about each of the concepts, and then were led out to the basketball courts to do an activity. Sitting in their advisory groups, each student received a small sheet of paper with a number line on it. Janda then read out questions where each student had to either move forward or backward on the number line if their answer was ‘yes’.
Muldrew, who is an Upper School math teacher, reflects on the assembly.
“I would say that it’s a beginning conversation. We want to be talking about this because these are things that are part of who we are. And in order for us to understand and support each other, we have to navigate these waters of different identities and what that means in the world,” she said.
Janda, who teaches history at the Upper School, also commented on how a personal experience that occurred in his sophomore year in high school later influenced his own personal identity as a member of the community.
“For me, the reason that I do this work is because an African American kid on my basketball team was part of a voluntary busing program in order to desegregate the schools of metropolitan St. Louis,” he said. “I had never heard of such a thing, and that was the moment where I realized there was a difference between being black and being white in America that I didn’t understand, and I’ve been trying to figure that and related issues out ever since.”
Freshmen also state their opinions about today’s activity involving the number line and questions.
“I think that the questions were pretty well formated. None of them were blunt enough for it to be triggering to anyone or to bring about like severe flashbacks,” Emily Chen (9) said. “But I didn’t really like the number line thing though, because I feel like the point is to not define people by numbers.”
Sophomores had a LIFE session with a guest speaker, juniors had eagle buddies, and seniors also had a LIFE assembly with Ms. Keller and Mr. Irvine.
Ashley Jiang (11) is the photo editor for Winged Post. This is her third year in the journalism program, and she was a reporter her freshman and sophomore...