![“[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)
Students and faculty audition for HOSCARS
Naomi Molin (11) auditions for HOSCARS in front of student council. HOSCARS is set to take place on March 18.
March 3, 2016
Three student council members sit down as Naomi Molin (12) stands in her initial position for her Hawaiian dance routine. The music starts to play and she starts to gracefully move her arms and sway while the judges watch intently.
Student council started extensive planning for the Harker annual talent show, “Hoscars,” nine weeks before the event. They started by using a three week period to plan a six week schedule to organize events leading up to the Hoscars on March 18, according to ASB secretary Grace Guan (12).
Due to the large amount of preparation leading up to Hoscars, student council splits up into three committees to take care of the logistics of the event.
“We’re starting to plan the actual event. The publicity committee will put up posters around campus, and they also make a school meeting announcement and make a video.” Junior class president Sandip Nirmel (11) said. “ Tech committee manages backstage during the event.”
The auditions committee, who are in charge of organizing auditions, plans to hold both video and in person auditions.
“We prefer the video auditions because we don’t want to take too much extra help or long lunch time from our own student council auditioners,” Grace said.
Categories for the acts are decided after the audition.
“We judge the acts on their originality,” Freshmen class president Kelsey Wu (9) said. “The categories come out after we judge the acts since we base the award categories on what types we end up seeing.”
According to Grace, a previous complaint disclosed that too many vocal acts were accepted, so student council is on the lookout for more creative acts like Korean pop music and juggling.
There are many key aspects to a Hoscars act that are taken into consideration during the auditions process.
“We just look for that the kids are really enthusiastic, and they have something really planned,” Sandip said. “It won’t be overcomplicated, so they’ll actually have success on stage and have a lot of fun.”
Auditions started on Feb. 23 and Hoscars will be held on March 18.
This piece was originally published in the pages of the Winged Post on March 2, 2016
