![“[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)
Spirit Week 2015: A tradition continues
Students reach for snow cones after school. Spirit Club handed out free food to students every day after school.
Pajamas, tie-dye and monochrome are among the themes of this year’s Spirit Week. The Upper School tradition consists of five days of dress-up food, competitions and a Friday spirit rally.
“It’s fun to see people get excited and forget about stress and have fun and all and play games and laugh,” Student Activities Coordinator and Community Service Director Kerry Enzensperger said.
This year’s Spirit Week began with Pajama Day on Monday with cereal offered as food and sleeping bag races as the spirit event. Pajama Day with sleeping bag races was also held in 2013.
On Tuesday, students donned tie-dye shirts participating in Twister during lunch and eating free snow cones after school. Students had the opportunity to tie-dye shirts on April 16. Read more about Tuesday’s spirit events here.
Arben Gutierrez-Bujari (10) poses as he prepares to hand out free snow cones to students after school. Spirit Club provides free snacks for students after school every day this week.
Wednesday’s theme was “Wacky Wednesday,” with powderpuff as the spirit event. In powderpuff, girls play football and boys cheer. As it is more common for boys to play football and girls to cheer, powderpuff provides a reversal of expectations.
“Overall I just felt that it was a really riveting experience, being able to support all your classmates and cheering them on in an experience that you don’t really get to participate in very often,” Jimmy Lin (9) said. “I feel like that’s just the underlying concept behind what powderpuff really stands for.”
Powderpuff is also a Spirit Week tradition. Read about past events in 2012, 2013 and 2014 on Harker Aquila.
Each class has chosen its own theme for Thursday. Seniors will dress up as twins, juniors with the colors red, white and blue, sophomores as superheroes and freshmen in monochrome clothing.
Thursday’s spirit events include several recurring events such as the regatta and belly flop contest. The class of 2015 has won the regatta thrice. Read about their victories as sophomores in 2013 and again as juniors in 2014.
This year, before the regatta, students from each grade racing across the pool in search of plastic items. Students and faculty then competed in an inner tube relay, followed by a belly flop contest. One boy and one girl will win the belly flop contest and receive an In-N-Out Burger lunch. The regatta itself concluded the set of spirit events for the day.
Powderpuff and regatta have been part of spirit week for more than a decade, Enzensperger said.
On Friday, Spirit Week will conclude with a spirit rally. The class dance competition, also held in previous years, will return. The theme is class T-shirts and yellow, the class colors for this year’s seniors.
Praveen Batra (9) is a reporter for the Winged Post. He enjoys informative writing, design, and typography. In his spare time, he likes to write mobile...