![“[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)
ASB candidates give speeches to student body
The candidates for Associated Student Body (ASB) delivered their speeches to the juniors, sophomores and freshmen today in the gym at 9:40 a.m. as a precursor to elections, which will be held on Thursday.
The ASB officers from last year were Sarah Bean (12) as president, Jessica “Fred” Chang (12) as vice president, Shikhar Dixit (12) as secretary and David Lin (12) as treasurer. This year, there were nine candidates, the same number of total candidates as last year: Dhanush Madabusi (11), Yuan “Ray” Song (10) and Shreya Sunkara (11) for treasurer, Shannon Hong (11) and Grace Guan (11) for secretary, Chris Hailey (10) and Sanil Rajput (11) for vice president, and Sandip Nirmel (10) and Michael Zhao (11) for president.
“This is really our last chance as seniors to really make a lasting impact on the school. So far, we’ve been taking a really secondhand seat, letting the ASB drive us for the past three years,” Michael said. “Now it’s really our time to step up and take responsibility for really what these past three years have been building up to.”
All of the candidates had the opportunity to speak to the juniors, sophomores and freshmen about their plans for next year and qualifications for their prospective positions during approximately three minute speeches. Each candidate discussed a variety of issues and plans to improve campus life including ideas for more forks during lunch period to the potential implementation of a Facebook page for all clubs.
Grace was the only candidate not to give a speech today; she recorded a video of her speech, which was shown to the assembled student body in place of her speech.
Following the speeches, Dean of Students Kevin Williamson introduced a new element to the assembly: a question and answer period with the candidates. Students were allowed to personally address candidates with specific questions about the ideas and promises proposed in their speeches.
Some students expressed their approval of candidates giving speeches to the entire student body in order to learn more about each individual potential officer.
“I think it’s helpful because a lot of times we don’t know [the candidates] that well if they’re upperclassmen, and so it’s helpful to get a glimpse into their personality and what they’re going to do in the future,” Evani Radiya-Dixit (10) said.
Although more underclassmen ran for ASB positions this year compared to last year, some sophomores and freshmen did not want to run for office due to doubts about experience in working with the student community.
“Looking at the candidates who are already running for ASB president, I felt like they had a lot more experience and would have a better sense of direction for the future of the Harker student body,” current freshman class President Jimmy Lin said.
Elections for ASB officers will be held on Thursday. Elections for class councils for juniors, sophomores and freshmen will be held in a later week in April.
Kshithija “KJ” Mulam (12) is the Winged Post Editor-in-Chief. Serving as the Winged Post News Editor in her junior year, Winged Post Photo Editor in...