![“[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 wear black to school to support fellow student
Students in the Upper School wore black to school today in support of a fellow student who recently left Harker. The senior class organized the event and invited all other classes to participate.
September 19, 2016
More than 150 students wore black to school today in a show of support for a student who recently left Harker.
In response to this student’s Facebook post on Friday about her struggle with mental illness and experiences with Harker administration, several seniors, along with the student herself, organized an online event inviting students from all grades to wear black clothing to school on Monday.
“A lot of students felt strongly about the recent events that have happened, so people asked [her] how to show our support, and we asked her what color she wanted: she chose black,” Kevin Huang (12), one of the organizers of the event, said. “Then, we just invited the other grades to wear black as well to show support.”
Students’ black attire symbolized their individual ways of supporting her, whether it was for raising awareness for mental illnesses or empathizing with the student’s personal situation.
“When reading [her Facebook] posts, the first thing that I thought was ‘Wow, this was a terrible thing she went through,’ but also the fact that we don’t know the whole story,” senior class president Alex Youn (12) said. “I wore black stuff today in support of [her] and the things she’s going through, but not in support of criticizing administration or Harker’s counseling department.”
In light of students’ decisions to wear black clothing, administration emphasized the importance of student safety and freedom of expression.
“Harker’s Administration understands and respects our students’ expression of support today,” head of school Christopher Nikoloff wrote in an email statement to Aquila. “We emphasize that at all times we will continue to place the health, safety and well-being of all of our students above all else and welcome suggestions and an ongoing dialogue to continue deepening our support for student and families.”
