![“[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 girls lacrosse beats Salinas High School 9-5
Heidi Zhang (11) scoops up the ball while keeping it away from Salinas High School players. The girls won their first home game 9-5.
March 7, 2018
The Harker lacrosse team won their season opener 9-5 against Salinas High School Tuesday afternoon at home.
Both teams started off strong and after ten minutes of play the score remained tied 0-0, with key saves from goalie Nellie Tonev (10). However, Salinas broke the tie to score first. Seconds later, right off the draw, Zoe Sanders (9) ran up the field and scored to tie the game once again.
“We were really good on the draw, which meant we had possession and could attack first,” Nellie said. “There was a really great effort to go after the ball in general even if we missed shots or passes.”
A close game followed suit, with Salinas scoring twice only to have Sara Yen (9) and Piper White (10) answer back with goals of their own. At halftime, the score was tied 3-3.
Salinas scored again five minutes into the second half, but once again, Harker bounced back with a hat trick from co-captain Heidi Zhang (11) to put the Eagles up 6-4. The home team dominated for the rest of the half, with three more goals from Lauren Russell (12), Piper and Grace Hajjar (10) while Salinas only scored one more goal. Despite it being her first time playing goalie, Nellie finished with 16 saves out of 21 shots. The final score was 9-5.
“There’s definitely a lot that could still improve considering some people were new on the field, but we definitely should become a bit more adaptive,” Nellie said. “I think in general if we’re more calm and collected on the field it’ll translate to cleaner and smarter plays, so we should work on becoming comfortable with our stick skills and with communicating with each other.”
The girls play again next Tuesday at Davis Field against Woodside Priory at 4 p.m.
