![“[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)
Juniors and sophomores take rapids and ropes
Matthew McCallaCreary (10) completes a ropes course activity by balancing himself to cross a tightrope. The sophomore class trip was held on Aug. 20.
The junior class participated in the annual rafting trip last Thursday while the sophomores went to the annual ropes course trip.
The juniors started from campus at approximately 6:25 a.m. by boarding buses sorted by advisory. Each of the four buses arrived at the rafting location at different times for lunch before students and faculty donned rafting gear and received a safety talk.
Upon beginning the rafting portion of the trip, several advisories were forced to split up into smaller groups in order to fit in the rafts, but each of the bus groups stayed within the general vicinity, allowing advisory groups to still bond with each other. The small rafting groups worked together to paddle through rapids as a team and help each other in and out of the boat while swimming in ponds.
“You really learn to bond with each other without all the distractions you usually have because you’re just on the river and you’re facing the waves,” Haley Tran (11) said. “I really enjoyed the trip because there were no distractions like phones or homework, and people don’t have to worry about school yet, but they still can enjoy each other’s company.”
In past years, the juniors previously participated in other trips other than rafting, but some teachers expressed their approval of the change to rafting after enjoying the trip last week.
“I thought it was much better than past class trips that we’ve done with the juniors,” junior advisor Mark Brada said. “I had gone both on a sailing trip with another one of my advisories and on the kayaking trip with one of my advisories, and I feel like this was a better experience than either one of those two things.”
Following the day of rafting, advisories changed out of their wet clothes and returned to their buses to eat dinner before arriving back at campus at 7:30 p.m.
On the same day, the sophomores boarded buses at approximately 7:40 a.m. with each bus holding around five to six advisories and traveling to different locations.
For the first part of the day, the students participated in a variety of team bonding games and activities that focused on teamwork and communicating with others.
“I got closer to my advisory and I learned that it’s easier to work with a team than by yourself,” Preethi Madabusi (9) said.
After lunch, students participated in various climbing elements that needed cooperation as a team in order to succeed.
In the past fourteen years the annual ropes course trip has been held, changes have also occurred.
“We used to go to two courses and as the school continued to grow, we were taking up to 100 students to the courses and not everybody could get through the different elements,” said Dean of Students and sophomore advisor Kevin Williamson. “So this is our second year now using four sites so everybody gets a different experience but similar events.”
After a day at the ropes courses, students returned to campus at around 4:30 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.
This piece was originally published in the pages of The Winged Post on August 31, 2015.
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...
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...