![“[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)
Icicles: A new take on ice cream
September 20, 2017
Walking into Icicles, ice-cream lovers are instantly greeted with the sight of skilled workers making ice cream with ease. Impressed, customers quickly take photos and videos.
With five locations in Willow Glen, Newark, Cupertino, Pleasanton and San Mateo, Icicles sells a wide variety of high quality ice cream with an intriguing and artistic twist in their presentation.
The staff makes your ice cream right in front of you. The process begins with a liquid ice cream base poured onto a cold plate. Next, ingredients such as fruit or cookies are crushed and mixed with the base to add flavor. After the mixture is spread out across the cold plate, it is rolled into multiple pieces of ice cream.
Icicles offers twelve different flavors of ice cream and sometimes provide seasonal specials. All flavors are made with one of three bases but feature different ingredients. The ice cream bases are vanilla custard, Thai tea and green tea. Each cup costs from $7.00 to $7.75 depending on location.
The store’s most popular flavors are Oreo Blast, Strawberry Fantasy, and Nutella n’ Chill. All three flavors consist of a vanilla custard base; however, different flavors include distinct add-ons to make each flavor unique. Oreo Blast features either regular or mint oreos, Strawberry Fantasy includes fresh strawberries and graham-crackers and Nutella n’ Chill has nutella and graham-crackers.
Once the ice cream has been made and rolled, a customer can choose to add unlimited toppings from a wide selection of fruit, candy and nuts. Fruit will be freshly cut in front of you and artistically placed in your bowl. As soon as you are finished with adding toppings, the only thing left to do is enjoy.
