![“[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)
Student council plans fundraiser for hurricane victims across United States
Selin Sayiner (12) purchases a Valentine Gram from student council’s February fundraiser for the previous school year. Student council plans to hold another fundraiser for hurricane victims in late October.
October 12, 2017
The ASB and class councils will hold a series of fundraisers in late October as an effort to support the victims of the recent hurricanes.
The fundraisers will be held in addition to upper school theater teacher Jeffrey Draper’s Fall Play fundraiser.
“The plan is that each council was going to take a day to have a fundraiser, and we’re all going to work together to raise money,” ASB treasurer Megan Huynh (12) said.
The councils voted on Oct. 2 to go through with the plan, initially proposed by sophomore Radhika Jain, who worked with her father to create an online donation pool to support the victims of Hurricane Harvey.
“I really wanted to raise awareness for them and raise money and send money over to [the victims],” Radhika said. “We can come together and do something great for a cause.”
Boba and pizookies, along with tickets for the Fall Play, will be sold on alternating days in the weeks leading up to the Fall Play. Sales will be facilitated by the ASB and class councils, as well as people participating in the Fall Play and Radhika herself, and conducted in a similar manner to the joint homecoming ticket sales and junior Dippin’ Dots fundraiser from earlier this year.
“The sophomore class and other classes get to choose what they want to do to fundraise money,” sophomore council president Avi Gulati said. “We haven’t chosen as a council yet, but it ranges anywhere from boba to monetary donations.”
All funds will be going to Habitat for Humanity, a global non-profit organization which builds homes for underprivileged communities and disaster areas.
“Basically, it has one conjoined donation fund for both Harvey and Irma, and I was like this is perfect, since before my idea was to send [the funds for] Hurricane Harvey to one separate charity and [the funds for] Irma to a different charity, but then once I found this conglomerate fund I thought okay, this is perfect to send it all to one place and to their respective areas,” Radhika said.
Radhika’s donation page for Hurricane Harvey is currently still up, and she is looking for other possible suggestions for the types of fundraisers she can do.
“My main goal is to help these families come together and go back to their normal way of living, which I know is probably not going to be completely normal, but as close to normal as possible,” Radhika said.
The sophomore council is considering holding an additional dance this year in order to raise funds for the sophomore class.
This piece was originally published in the pages of the Winged Post on October 12, 2017.
