![“[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)
Apple unveils iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 plus
September 22, 2016
Apple fans can buy the new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, released in Bay Area stores a week after their announcement in San Francisco.
The new models are waterproof, larger and designed with a new range of colors, including jet black. Apart from these superficial changes, the new iPhones also come equipped with dual-lens cameras. Scrapping its old memory model, which ranged from 16GB to 64GB, Apple has given the devices up to 256GB of storage.
These new features ultimately add up to a more expensive device: the 4.7-inch iPhone 7 costs $649, and the 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus costs $769.
“I feel great about the new iPhone 7, it’s really cool, but it doesn’t have an audio jack, so that’s kind of sad,” Jeffrey Yang (9) said. “I have an iPhone 6, but I’m not going to upgrade because it’s too expensive.”
Apple displays a row of iPhone 6s devices along with rose gold Beats headphones. The new iPhone 7 models were already sold out by morning, leaving behind older devices.
Naturally, Apple’s removal of the headphone jack has become a major consideration for those interested in the new iPhone. While some students support the shift, most of the student body was inconvenienced by the missing headphone jack.
“My dad just bought an iPhone 7 today, and it’s really weird,” Ryan Chen (12) said. “I don’t like how they took out the headphone jack because I can’t listen to music with my old earbuds anymore.”
Some students also felt Apple’s wireless earbuds would be much harder to use.
“I think it’s cool how there’s new colors, and it’s water resistant, but I think it’s kind of weird they don’t have a headphone jack anymore,” Constance Horng (10) said. “I feel like the new earbuds will fall out.”
Though users will have to use the new dongle that comes with the iPhone 7, some students believe the impact of losing the headphone jack will diminish over time.
“I feel like not a lot of people are going to buy it because it doesn’t have a headphone jack and since it’s so expensive,” Annabelle Peng (10) said. “But it’s a nice concept, and hopefully in future models they’ll be more popular.”
Outside of the Apple community, Android users also debated over the release of the new iPhone 7.
“I think that it’s a waste of people’s money. The new features like color and water resistance aren’t that big of a difference,” Android user Joanna Lin (11) said. “I don’t really see much of a change from the old iPhones.”
Other students thought that the new iPhone was an improvement on previously released devices.
“The Apple computers are good, and the new iPhone 7 looks okay,” Bill Liang (12) said. “Everything’s very round, but it’s better than past models.”
Some models of the iPhone 7 are already sold out in various stores, including AT&T and T-Mobile, but the phones can be reserved on the online Apple website.
