![Setter Emma Lee (9) sets the ball to the middle during the match against Pinewood on Sept. 12. “[I’m looking forward to] getting more skilled, learning more about my position and also becoming better friends with all of my teammates, Emma said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/DSC_4917-2-1200x795.jpg)
![“[Building nerf blasters] became this outlet of creativity for me that hasnt been matched by anything else. The process [of] making a build complete to your desire is such a painstakingly difficult process, but Ive had to learn from [the skills needed from] soldering to proper painting. Theres so many different options for everything, if you think about it, it exists. The best part is [that] if it doesnt exist, you can build it yourself, Ishaan Parate said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DSC_8149-900x604.jpg)
![“Animation just clicked in a way. I had been interested in art, but that felt different. [Animation] felt like it had something behind it, whereas previous things felt surface level. I wasnt making that crazy of things, but just the process of doing it was much more enjoyable, Carter Chadwick (22) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Screen-Shot-2022-08-16-at-9.44.08-AM-900x598.png)
![“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 its played such a major role in who Ive 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 Im [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)
![“[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)
![“Im 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 theres a lot of people that are really confident in what they do, and I really admire them. Everyones 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)
![“My slogan is ‘slow feet, don’t eat, and I’m hungry.’ You need to run fast to get where you are–you arent going to get those championships if you arent 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)
![“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)
Students take top honors at National Economics Challenge state round
Courtesy of Samuel Lepler
Three NEC teams from the upper school pose in front of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. The Northern California state competition was held on April 4.
April 11, 2016
Three teams of upper school juniors and seniors competed in the Northern California Adam Smith division of the National Economics Challenge (NEC) at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco on April 4.
After taking an initial online testing round to qualify for the state division event, teams of four students competed in individual and group multiple-choice rounds as well as a quiz bowl section in San Francisco. Question topics included microeconomics, macroeconomics, international economics and current events.
“After [the written rounds] we were ranked first, and it put us in a good position for the buzzer section because there’s a little bit of stress with it because you need to buzz in but then have the right answer,” Team Harker 13 member Jasmine Liu (12) said. “There were some weird questions that definitely came up, so those were just dependent on if we knew it or if we had the practical knowledge to try to figure it out, but in general it’s just having basic [economics] knowledge and general knowledge of world events.”
Team Harker 13, which comprises seniors Grace Guan, Abhinav Ketineni, Adele Li and Jasmine, took first place at the event and will take the national semifinal exam on April 26.
“We actually went [to the NEC state round] last year as Anikaswagmoney, which was our old team name, and we placed third, which was good, but we really hoped we could get more, so this year was a nice comeback as seniors with direct preparation to take first,” Abhinav said. “We’re going to study more for [the semifinal round]. It’s pretty competitive, though, so our chances are pretty slim, but hopefully we’ll pull through.”
The teams In High Demand, consisting of juniors Joyce Huang, Taylor Iantosca, Emaad Raghib and Priyanka Taneja, and The Visible Hands, which comprised seniors Samali Sahoo, Alice Wu, Daphne Yang and Michael Zhao, also competed at the event but did not qualify for the semifinals.
“The third round kind of hurt a couple of our teams a little bit, but they were aggressive in the quiz bowl, and I was really proud of all three teams. They did really well,” Economics teacher and NEC coach Samuel Lepler said. “Anything that is on the AP exam is fair game, and certainly you want to master that and master it to be able to do it quickly, but that’s only really the first step. Of course, winning is cool, and it looks good, but for me personally, as a teacher, winning is the cherry on top of participation. I’d much prefer to get a lot of people involved and excited to dive in.”
If Team Harker 13 wins the semifinals, it will proceed to the national finals to compete for the national championship in New York City from May 20 to May 23.
