![“[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)
Junior Honor Council candidates present speeches
Nikhil Manglik (11) delivers his Honor Council speech to the junior class. Students can vote for their top candidates on Thursday during both lunches in the Journalism room.
Junior candidates running for Honor Council presented their speeches to the class of 2017 today during class meeting.
Andrew Rule, Chetana Kalidindi, Nikhil Manglik and Soham Khan are running for positions on the Honor Council. Two members are elected every other year. Andrew and Soham have served on the Honor Council since freshman year.
Chetana reflects on why she wants to be elected to serve the community.
“I think honor is an integral part of the Harker community,” Chetana said. “Harker instills in us all a moral foundation that we will carry with us for the rest of our lives.”
Honor Council faculty member Thomas “Andy” Wicklund introduced each candidate, and they each gave a two to three minute speech. In their speeches, the students explained why they want to serve as members of the Honor Council and how honor affects the community.
“I think it helps to have honor be kind of an ever-present discussion,” Wicklund said. “I like the rituals of signing the documents and just making it seem like it’s a part of this school, instead of this kind of overbearing, punitive reminder at times of an indiscretion where a student makes [a] mistake.”
Other Honor Council faculty members include Samuel Lepler and Dr. Smriti Koodanjeri.
Soham discusses in his speech how honor not only pertains to academics, but also to real life situations.
“I’ve been privileged to observe honor and integrity in the minutest details–carrying someone else’s tray to the dishwashing station, and in the most over-arching context as well,” Soham said.
Noa Sasson (11) comments about her opinion regarding honor and what she thought of the speeches.
“I thought they were pretty good, [but] I thought some of them focused a little bit too much on the homework aspect of honor,” Noa said. “I think honor extends a little bit beyond that.”
Students can vote for their top candidates during both lunches in the Journalism room on Thursday.
Raveena Kapatkar (12) is the Co-Editor-in-Chief of Harker Aquila. She is a senior and this is her fourth year on staff. As a freshman, she was a reporter...