![“[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)
Investment Club receives $5,000
March 3, 2016
The Investment Club received $5000 in December from a private donation to invest in the real stock market.
“We asked the school for a portion of the Harker Endowment, and it gave it to us to actually invest in the stock market,” said Ameek Singh (12), co-founder and co-president of the club.
Ameek, Raymond and Sanil originally started the club after they competed in the Stock Market Game as part of DECA and placed at ICDC. They realized that, while many teams at the upper school competed in the game, there was no one to teach investment strategy to participants. They worked with Thompson to fill the gap, creating the Investment Club.
The club hopes to use the donation to allow members to expand their experience from a virtual stock market to the actual stock market.
“[The money] will allow for the Investment Club members to learn about investment through hands-on learning,” Ameek said.
The club has had the donation approved by the Board of Trustees and is in the process of setting up a fidelity account to use to invest. The club will be able to invest once it gains permission from the club advisor, Chris Thompson, regarding the trade.
The club wants to use this investment to allow its members to apply their knowledge in the actual stock market.
“We felt that having real money to invest is a more educational opportunity for students, with a risk involved,” Sanil Rajput (12), the other co-founder and co-president of the club said.
The club is required to follow a set of Harker’s investing principles. These include investing in companies that have a market cap, or total value of all shares of the company, of over a billion dollars, investing in companies that do not support bad causes, such as pollution or environmental degradation, and no short selling, which involves borrowing and selling stocks when they have high prices and then buying them back and returning them when they become less valuable.
“We are following some guidelines of value investing modeled after Warren Buffett and the Bible of value investing, The Intelligent Investor, by Benjamin Graham,” said Raymond Xu (11), vice president and another co-founder of the investment club.
The club meets during long lunches at the Innovation Center.
This piece was originally published in the pages of The Winged Post on March 3, 2016.
