![“[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)
Programming club holds annual invitational
A team of students participates in the annual Harker Programming Invitational. The event took place in Nichols Hall on March 20.
April 3, 2016
Programming club hosted the annual Harker Programming Invitational (HPI) from 8:15 a.m. to 2 p.m. which included competitions, speakers and a college fair was hosted by the programming club in Nichols Hall on March 20.
The main event, which lasts for two hours starting at 8:45 a.m., consisted of teams attempting 12 challenging programming problems created by David and checked by the rest of the club. An additional challenge round was held starting from 11:20 a.m. Students submitted answers in Java, C++ or Python.
“A lot of the time [was] probably going to be spent with like-minded students from the Bay Area,” Jimmy Lin (10) said. “I’m excited about seeing some and tackling some interesting problems that are presented to us and also catching up with friends that are interested in similar problems as I am.”
Teams of three or less were eligible to participate in competitions. The club expected approximately 50 to 60 teams from across the Bay Area to compete, resulting in around 120 students to be present.
“This year, we [expanded] to incorporate more teams since we have a long wait list,” the club’s head problem writer and lecturer David Zhu (11) said. “We also hopefully have made the problems better quality and more thoroughly tested.”
Preparation for the invitational started in November with coordination across departments to organize catering, connecting with the technical department and getting the use of classrooms for the event.
Students chose to compete in either the novice or advanced category depending on prior knowledge and experience; however, only first year programmers could participate in the novice division.
Sponsors of the event included Make School, Star League and ACEPrep. The programming club also invited Make School’s Jeremy Rossman as a guest speaker, as well as representatives from various colleges.
“The keynote speaker this year is Jeremy Rossman; he’s the founder of a cool startup called Make School, and basically, it’s about educating people on how to make iOS apps.” Programming club president Sadhika Malladi (12) said. “He has a good sense about how to start companies, and he also dropped out of MIT to pursue his passion, so I think that’s an interesting message to give to students: if they have a passion or a vision, maybe college isn’t the right place for them, but we also have a college fair so we like to keep our options open.”
The programming club’s next competition will be Stanford ProCo on May 17.
