![LALC Vice President of External Affairs Raeanne Li (11) explains the International Phonetic Alphabet to attendees. "We decided to have more fun topics this year instead of just talking about the same things every year so our older members can also [enjoy],” Raeanne said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/DSC_4627-1200x795.jpg)
![“[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)
Upper school students take AMC 10/12 exam
Ashwin Reddy (9), Tiffany Wong (9), Brian Park (9) and Grace Koonmen (10) discuss homework questions that were assigned. All four of these students are in Honors Algebra 2 with math teacher Jane Keller.
February 2, 2016
Approximately 120 students took the 75-minute American Mathematics Competition (AMC) 10 or 12 test this morning at 8 a.m. in Nichols Atrium to develop their math abilities.
AMC is a nationwide math contest that has been happening for more than 60 years. The goal of the contest is expand the math capabilities of the nation’s youth through giving problems designed to be challenging and make the students think. Each year, over 350,000 children from about 6,000 schools participate in their tests.
Due to this competition today, the schedule was modified to have school start at 9:30 a.m. and finish at 3 p.m.
The recommended math level to take this test is geometry, but there is no math course required to take part in the contest.
“It is one of the great things that I like about it because it is any math level,” upper school Algebra 2 teacher Anuradha Aiyer said. “Typically the 10th grade one is recommended for the younger students, and the 12th grade one is recommended for the older students. The mathematical association just does it by age more than knowledge.”
This exam is a stepping stone to a series of tests because if a student does well they move on to American Invitational Math Examination (AIME), which uses a combination score of the AMC with the AMIE. Following that is the qualifying exam, United States of America Junior Mathematical Olympiad (USAJMO) for the math olympiad team, and even further is the national math olympiad team.
Students have a variety of motivations and reasons that drive them to compete in this math contest.
“It is a fun competition and it is the only way to qualify to AIME competition,” Cindy Wang (9) said. It is more of a why not question since math is very interesting.”
David Zhu (11) took the AMC 12 today, and he has previously taken the AMC 10 and scored high enough to qualify for the AIME and USAJMO exams.
“I took the exam to test my problem solving skills and just to see how many problems I can solve,” Zhu said. “I thought it was a little harder than previous years, but the problems were just as interesting.”
Harker has a strong history and reputation in this competition.
“I know we will have people taking the next level, and then I know from there we have also had students qualify for the math olympiad,” Aiyer said. “I think we have had one odd qualify actually for the national math olympiad team, but not in the last couple of years.”
The next AMC contest is Feb.17 and the AIME will take place in March.
