![“[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)
Preview: TedxHarkerSchool aims to promote youth entrepreneurship
The upper school’s TEDx chapter will host its annual TedxHarkerSchool event on Saturday, March 22 in Nichols Atrium following weeks of preparation.
This year’s TEDx event focuses on “fostering youth entrepreneurship,” and will provide students in the Bay Area with the opportunity to network and learn from a diverse mix of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs.
Director of Business and Entrepreneurship Juston Glass commented on his hopes for the what the event will bring.
“That students will leave inspired, educated, and with a greater confidence in themselves as future leaders and entrepreneurs,” Juston Glass said.
The event is independent, but affiliated with the larger organization of TED; it’s being organized by a group of students who are members of the upper school’s TEDx club.
TEDx officer Glenn Reddy (11), who has spent the past few weeks contacting speakers and putting the event together, elaborated on the theme of “fostering youth entrepreneurship.”
“There are two truly unique things about TEDxHarkerSchool 2014: the theme and the mentor luncheon. This year is unprecedented in that the team has decided to create a focus on social entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship in the context of non-profits.”
Glenn went on to discuss the mentor luncheon, which is scheduled to occur midday following the first three TED talks. The luncheon aims to connect students to mentors in their field of choice, operating similarly to the upper school club CareerConnect.
“The mentor luncheon is a special opportunity for attendees, high school and college students, to interface more personally with business professionals. There will be around 25 mentors, each at his or her own table, that the attendees can choose from to eat lunch and discuss with,” Glenn said.
In fact, since TEDxHarkerSchool and CareerConnect are both under the upper school’s business and entrepreneurship wing, they share members and officers and often join forces in their undertakings.
DECA member Raymond Xu (9) plans on attending TEDx to hear from the speakers, of whom he has heard “great” things.
“I think the list of speakers this year is surprisingly interesting and unique, as its been highlighted that our own senior, Arjun Mehta, is going to be talking about his past entrepreneurial success as well as his current success,” said Ray.
The keynote speakers being featured are David Girouard, Founder and CEO of Upstart and former President of Enterprise at Google, Lata Krishnan, CFO at Shah Capital Partners, Dr. Ronda Beaman, Chief Creative Officer at PEAK Learning, Ariel Tseitlin, VC at ScaleVP and former Director of Cloud Operations at Netflix, Rashmi Menon, lecturer at Stanford University, and upper school’s very own, Arjun Mehta (12), founder of Stoodle and co-founder of Playspan.
To purchase tickets, visit www.tedx.harker.org. While, for a certain period of time, attendance was initially only open to Harker students and families, tickets have now gone on sale for all TED enthusiasts in the area.
Tara Parimi (12) is co-Editor-in-Chief of Harker Aquila, and this is her fourth year on staff. She has been involved with the upper school's journalism...