![“[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)
Harker debaters compete at the Golden Desert Tournament in Las Vegas
Courtesy of Jenny Alme
Raymond Xu (12) and Emaad Raghib (12) pose with their award. Competing in a field of 95 teams, Raymond and Emaad placed second, losing to a team from Mission San Jose High School.
February 7, 2017
The upper school debate team competed at the Golden Desert Tournament at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas from Feb. 4 to 6, with students participating in three events: Public Forum, Lincoln Douglas and Policy debate.
The Golden Desert Tournament is one of the many national tournaments the Harker speech and debate team attends. The event invites mostly schools from the western United States to compete.
Out of the 29 students from Harker who participated, Emmiee Malyugina (12) advanced to semifinals of Lincoln Douglas and was the 13th speaker of a pool of 116 participants; Raymond Xu (12) and Emaad Raghib (12) advanced to the finals of Public Forum, with Emaad being fifth speaker out 95, and Megan Huynh (11) and Alan Hughes (11) advanced to octofinals in Policy.
For Emmiee, her performance at the tournament far exceeded her expectations going into the competition.
“I thought that I would get to the elimination rounds, but I wasn’t sure about how far I’d get,” she said. “I thought I might get to quarters.”
Debate coach Jenny Achten was pleased by how the Harker team performed at Golden Dessert.
“I had hoped we would do pretty well because we have had a successful year so far, so I was really proud of the awards that folks won,” she said.
The upper school speech and debate team will next compete at the 31st annual Stanford Invitational from Feb. 11 to 13.
