![“[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)
Donald Trump races ahead of Republican rivals
Wikimedia Commons
Donald Trump speaks at a convention in Washington D.C. in 2015. Trump is running as a part of the GOP party for president.
Previously famous for his success in real estate and work in the media, politician Donald Trump currently leads the Republican party as the front-runner in polls for the 2016 elections, but he also faces extensive criticism for his controversial political stances throughout the course of his campaign.
According to a HuffPost Pollster poll updated on Wednesday showing trends in support for candidates involved in the 2016 National Republican primary, Trump leads the GOP (Grand Old Party) at 32.5 percent support with fellow candidate Ben Carson following at 13.1 percent support.
Despite leading his party in support, Trump faces mixed criticism from the media following his remarks on immigration from Mexico and his negative comments during his feud with Fox News journalist Megyn Kelly after his participation in the Fox News debate on Aug. 6.
Following the upswing in media coverage of Trump, the student body reflected on Trump and his political campaign.
“He’s like a bit messed up; he’s a bit radical, but in my opinion, he’s better than Democrats,” an unnamed freshman* said.
Other students felt that Trump had been antagonizing his fellow candidates and possible voters with his stances. Following the GOP debate last month in which Kelly questioned Trump extensively about his comments regarding women, Trump tweeted disparaging remarks that some construed as sexist about Kelly’s conduct, sparking outrage.
“I think he’s very rude and offensive, and I think that he should not be running [in the elections] at all,” Lyndsey Mitchell (11) said.
Most notably, Trump has been under fire for his remarks concerning Mexican immigrants in his speech announcing his presidential bid on June 16. According to his immigration plan, Trump believes that a wall should be constructed and paid for by Mexico between Mexico and the United States of America in order to keep out the surge of immigrants that “keeps unemployment high” among other arguments he posed.
Several students disagreed with Trump on this stance, considering his election bid and statements “a joke.”
“I feel like he doesn’t really understand the actual problems that we are facing today,” Sravya Cherukuri (11) said. “I just overall think this is a joke; he’s doing all of this to get attention, basically.”
Some students argued that Trump was not approaching his political campaign in a way that would ensure the support he needs from other politicians.
“I think that [Trump] is making way too many enemies when he’s trying to accomplish such a big thing,” Ethan Grammer (10) said. “I think that if he wants to be successful, he needs to stop making all these enemies and start to actually go after what he wants to accomplish.”
Other students felt that their opinions on Trump did not change after his remarks since they personally had no stance on immigration themselves.
“You know, considering that I don’t have much to do with illegal immigration, I’m rather neutral on that, so there’s not much of an opinion I can give,” Timothy Wang (9) said.
The next Republican Primary debate, which Trump will participate in, will be hosted by CNN on Sept. 16.
*Editors’ note: This article was revised on June 19, 2021. At a source’s request, their name was removed to provide anonymity.
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...
Nicole Chen (12) is Harker Aquila's Editor-in-Chief. She joined the journalism program in her freshman year as a reporter and became features editor as...