![“[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)
Research journal Horizon started
Chris Spenner and Rohith Kuditipudi (12) discuss upcoming plans for the new research journal Horizon. The journal is expected to launch next year.
Students gathered in the Research room after school on Thursday to discuss plans for the new upcoming research journal, Horizon.
Horizon is the school’s first attempt at a research journal that will contain student-written publications. The journal will feature articles of three different types: papers, perspectives, and briefs.
Technical papers present in the journal will include those written for science competitions such as Intel Science Talent Search and the Siemens Competition. Perspectives will be articles featuring an interesting topics that are relevant to modern science. Briefs will be short summaries of in-depth research that are designed to give readers a quick taste of the material being presented.
Horizon was conceived by the students in the Period 4 Honors Advanced Research class as a means to showcase the wide array of student research conducted at Harker.
Rohith Kuditipudi (12), Vedant Thyagaraj (12), Ankita Pannu (12), and Ashwini Iyer (12) are helping start Horizon for the upcoming school year.
Chris Spenner, who teaches Physics and Research classes at the Upper School, will be the advisor for Horizon. Spenner is optimistic about the journal and is looking forward to the new ideas that the leadership team will bring.
“I’m looking forward to seeing our new group of editors and what kind of ideas they will bring to the project,” he said. “I suspect with twice as many people involved in the leadership roles, and once they are in the trenches doing the work, they will come up with a lot of ideas on how to change things and improve things, and it’ll be a lot of fun.”
Many students are anticipating the launch of Horizon and are looking forward to its publication.
“I think it would be very useful as a guide to help me write my papers and also to explore what topics I could research in the future,” David Zhu (10) said.
The leadership staff is currently being selected and will be announced within the next two weeks, after applications for the Editor in Chief position are turned in.
Vineet Kosaraju (12) is the STEM Editor for both Harker Aquila and Winged Post. He is a senior and has been part of the journalism program for the past...