![“[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)
Latin students attend annual Ludi Novembres
Ludi Novembres participants attend a seminar about Julius Caesar during the event. This workshop took place after the Ludi scavenger hunt, which took students all around the Sacramento St. Francis campus.
November 29, 2017
Twenty-three Harker upper school students, along with a group of middle school students, attended Ludi Novembres, a California Junior Classical League (JCL) event, at St. Francis School in Sacramento on Nov. 18.
Nearly 400 students from 18 schools participated in this event. This widely-attended event allows the students to meet with other JCL members and compete in athletic, academic and artistic events.
All students take a minimum of one test and up to three academic tests in the following categories: Daily Life, Derivatives, Grammar, Mythology, Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary. There are seven levels: MS 1, MS 2, MS 3, HS 1, HS2, HS 3 and HS Advanced.
Ludi attendees can also participate in open certamen, in which teams are composed of students from different schools; open certamen is similar to quiz bowl. There is a certamen competition for Beginning (levels MS 1 and HS1), Intermediate (levels MS 2, MS Adv. and HS 2) and Advanced (levels HS3 and higher). Each competition consists of two rounds of 20 questions and two related bonus questions, and the top three teams advance to a final round.
“My favorite part of Ludi is open certamen,” Sara Min (11), said. “I might be going to the state convention this year depending on my schedule, and my favorite part is the variety of activities you can do there.”
Freshmen Eliott Kampmeier, Jason Lin, Akshay Manglik, Sidra Xu and Anna Vazhaeparambil review their event programs to decide what activities they want to participate in for the rest of the day. Twenty-three upper school students attended this year’s Ludi.
The event also hosts workshops presented by high school teachers and college professors. Additionally, there are sports events like volleyball, spikeball and tug of war. Students can also demonstrate their creative side in impromptu art by making colorful jelly bean mosaics or illustrating famous Latin quotes. Informal events like the grape toss, scavenger hunt and Roman speed dating provide an opportunity to meet other JCL members.
At Ludi, upper school students earned 16 individual awards. Additionally, seven students won team awards for certamen. Individual awards in Level 3 were awarded to the following freshmen: Katie Li (tying for second place in Grammar), Jason Lin (second place in Mythology), Akshay Manglik (second place ties in Derivatives and Grammar), Maria Vazhaeparambil (first place in Vocabulary) and Sara Yen (second place in Vocabulary, tied for second place in Grammar and Derivatives).
In the Advanced level, individual award winners were senior Edgar Lin (first place in Reading Comprehension); junior Timmy Chang (first place in Daily Life); sophomores Jeffrey Fung (first place in Grammar, third place in Reading Comprehension), Kyle Li (first place in Mythology, second place in Vocabulary) and Kalyan Narayanan (first place in Vocabulary, third place in Grammar).
In the advanced certamen team awards, the team of junior Alex Young, sophomore Jeffrey Fung and freshman Saloni Shah took first place, while the team of senior Andrew Semenza and freshmen Akshay Manglik, Sidra Xu and Sara Yen received second place awards.
Future JCL events include the CAJCL Convention, a two-day state convention event, from Apr. 13 to 14 at the Menlo School in Atherton. Participants come together from across the state to compete in academics, the arts and athletics and to engage in social activities.
Additionally, Latin students will be taking a number of different tests throughout the year, including the National Classical Etymology Exam (Nov. 30), the Medusa Mythology Exam (Dec. 6), the National Roman Civilization Exam (Mar. 2) and the National Latin Vocabulary Exam (Mar. 8) and the National Latin Exam in early March.
