![“[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)
Math Club members participate in AMC B exam
Joanna Lin (11) works on a problem during a practice round for the online math competition Math Madness on Sept. 27. Math Madness was one of several competitions that allowed students to take the AMC 10B or 12B at Harker.
February 23, 2017
Members of Math Club participated in the annual 75-minute American Math Competition (AMC) 10B and 12B exams at the middle school campus last Wednesday at 10:15 a.m.
The AMC 10A and 12A exams, which were open to all upper school students, took place on Feb. 7. High-performing students on either AMC exam advance to the first in a series of invitational competitions, the American Invitational Math Examination (AIME) in March.
“I took the AMC 10B, and it was pretty fun. It was easier than I expected, so I had time to check my answers,” Math Club co-vice president Katherine Tian (10), who also took the 10A exam, said. “Because the 10B costs a lot of money to buy all the contests, we choose to offer it only to active Math Club participants.”
To qualify for the 10B and 12B, students had to participate in a quota of Math Club-hosted contests or classes or give guest lectures.
“[The limit] is due to constraints in terms of the number of faculty members who can proctor the exam, but in addition to that, there’s certainly an aspect of incentivizing people to become more active in Math Club,” Math Club co-vice president Jimmy Lin (11), who took the 12A and 12B exams, said. “It was definitely pretty enjoyable working through the problems. A lot of the later problems ended up having really elegant solutions that, after thinking a while, just gave you that sort of aha moment at the end.”
Because AMC exams can cover material outside the upper school’s mathematics curriculum, many participants in the exam prepare beyond coursework as well as inside the classroom.
“There are a couple of big topics [on the AMC] that are typically not covered in the curriculum. One is number theory and the other is probability,” Math Club adviser Dr. Anuradha Aiyer said. “These two topics aren’t typically covered in a math course, so there are things that students would have to pick up.”
The AIME, on March 7, allows students to qualify for the USA Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO) and Junior Mathematical Olympiad (USAJMO) in April. High schoolers who excel on the USAMO or USAJMO will be able to participate in the International Mathematics Olympiad in Rio de Janeiro in July.
