![“[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)
Varsity softball loses 11-12 to Notre Dame in home opener game
Junior Taylor Lam follows through after a swing against Notre Dame. Softball played all their home games at the Blackford campus.
March 7, 2018
Varsity softball lost their first home game against Notre Dame High School yesterday at 3:30 p.m. with a score of 11-12.
After losing their first game of the season to Palo Alto with a score of 13-16 on Feb. 28, the girls suffered another close loss in their overall score to 0-2.
Junior Taylor Lam hit a home run in the first inning while Mahi Gurram (11), Anika Rajamani (11), Kristin Leblanc (12) and Cameron Zell (11) also had multiple runs throughout the course of the game.
This year, biology teacher Dr. Matthew Harley, who plays softball himself, joined the team as assistant coach to Raul Rios, the head coach.
“I play softball myself, I love the game, and every time I’ve gone and watched our softball team they’re just so enthusiastic, they’re having so much fun,” Dr. Harley said. “I love Coach Rios’ style and attitude about the team that I just want to be part of it.”
In preparation for their coming game, Dr. Harley and Rios, along with assistant coaches Tim Wancewicz and Megan Regan, will continue perfecting technique and plays with the team as they work to strengthen the morale of the team as well.
“For me, the difficulty today in practice, tomorrow in practice, is the psychological aspect,” Dr. Harley said. “We have to make sure that we have confidence in ourselves to help us keep the lead, but instead of thinking about that as ‘we need to keep the lead’ and then putting more pressure on ourselves, just to play, to keep doing what we were doing the whole rest of the game.”
The team is scheduled to travel to Fremont High School to play their third game of the season this Friday.
