![“[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)
Lacrosse begins season with a smaller roster
Freshman Heidi Zhang practices with the varsity lacrosse team Friday after school. All members joining lacrosse will be a part of the varsity team this year.
February 20, 2016
This year, girls’ lacrosse will only have a varsity team unlike previous year due to the 20-girl roster.
Many of the girls on the team started frequent pre-season workouts a few months in advance to get in better shape for the season. Official team practices began on Feb. 1 at the middle school campus but later shifted to Davis Field.
This year, the team captains are Alayna Richmond (11), Natasha Mayor (12) and Elizabeth Edwards (12).
Alayna spoke about how the team this year differs from last year.
“Last year we had a few really strong senior players who carried our team, and they were a source of really good leadership,” she said. “I think this year there’s going to be a lot of opportunity for people to step up and help lead the team, and I think we have a more rounded group of players.”
Shea Tuli (10) will be playing lacrosse for the first time this season. She discussed playing on varsity in her first year in the sport.
“I think it will just be a really fun sport with a great team, so I’m excited,” she said. “It’s a little stressful, but everyone’s really nice, and they definitely help you out.”
Danae Rodriguez, who was the head coach of the junior varsity team last year, is currently the head coach of the team. Andrew Newmark and chemistry teacher Andrew Irvine serve as assistant coaches this year. Newmark, who is coaching for the first time at Harker, addressed the smaller roster.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a bad thing,” he said. “I would say that we’d like to have more girls so that we would have a second team, but having one team allows us to have fresh legs so more bench players which is just going to allow us to cycle through healthy people faster or more often, so hopefully we can keep the intensity up throughout games and practices.”
Alayna reflected on her expectations for the season.
“It’s still pretty early in the season to be able to judge how we’re going to do, but I think there’s a lot of room for us to grow, and with hard effort we’re going to do really well this year,” she said.
The team will play their first game on Feb. 20 at Menlo School.
