![“[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 speech and debate wins awards at the Southwest Speech and Debate Institute Tournament
Nikhil Dharmaraj (9) delivers his speech, titled “Sinking Sinking Sunk,” to a panel of judges. Nikhil competed in three preliminary rounds before advancing to both the semifinals and finals in oratory, later placing sixth overall.
March 8, 2016
One public forum team and one speaker from the upper school speech and debate team traveled to Gilbert, Arizona, to compete at the fifth annual Southwest Speech and Debate Institute Tournament (SWSDIT) last weekend.
The invitational, hosted annually by Mesquite High School in Arizona, offered eight speech events and Lincoln-Douglas, Public Forum, Policy and Congressional debate. Speech competitors participated in three preliminary rounds, Congressional three, Policy four and both Lincoln-Douglas and Public Forum six.
Freshmen public forum debaters Cindy Wang and Clarissa Wang, as well as freshman speech competitor Nikhil Dharmaraj, competed at the tournament. Nikhil competed in Original Oratory and advanced to the finals of the event, placing sixth overall out of 30 competitors.
“Nikhil was amazing,” Cindy said about Nikhil’s performance at the tournament. “He finalled and somehow placed sixth when we all thought he was definitely top three.”
As a highly competitive and selective national tournament, SWSDIT also offered bids to the National Individual Events Tournament of Champions (NIETOC) to finalists in speech events with over 35 competitors and Tournament of Champions (TOC) bids to finalists in Lincoln-Douglas and the top six Congressional debaters.
In addition to placing sixth at SWSDIT, Nikhil also placed first overall at the James Logan Martin Luther King Invitational in January, an achievement that earned him a bid to NIETOC. Although he did not earn a second bid to the tournament because there were less than 35 competitors in Original Oratory at SWSDIT, Nikhil is excited about the prospect of attending NIETOC as a freshman.
“I didn’t really have expectations going into this year; I just wanted to see what happens and do my best,” Nikhil said. “I’m actually very excited about the possibility, and all I’m doing now is hoping everything will work out.”
Cindy and Clarissa competed in Varsity public forum and ended their run at the tournament with a record of three wins and three losses. Cindy commented on her team’s preparedness coming into the tournament.
“We had literally no prep because of how busy we’ve been; we started seriously researching the night before we had to debate,” Cindy said. “We also need to work on not contradicting each other. Overall, I think we need more teamwork and a deeper understanding of both the topic and what judges want to see.”
SWSDIT awarded the top six Congress finalists and the top six speech competitors in each event with live miniature cacti. Speaker awards were also announced in Public Forum, Lincoln-Douglas and Policy.
Public forum coach Sandy Berkowitz, who accompanied the competitors to Arizona, praised Harker’s performance at the tournament.
“The first tournament on a new topic during the first week of a new month is challenging,” Berkowitz said. “But I’m glad they won’t be debating the March topic for the first time at the Western National Championships, the next tournament they’ll be going to.”
Public forum debaters and speakers from the upper school speech and debate team will compete at the National Speech and Debate Association Tournament Qualifiers from March 18 to 20 at Bellarmine. Congressional debaters will also compete for a spot at NSDA on April 2 at Santa Clara University.
