![“[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)
Future Problem Solvers members attend annual State Bowl
Provided by Shital Ashar
Harker FPS’ delegation to this year’s FPS State Bowl poses for a group photo by the state banner. The event was held at Design39 in San Diego from April 20 to 22.
April 22, 2018
Members of Future Problem Solvers (FPS) from the lower, middle and upper schools attended the FPS State Bowl at Design39 in San Diego from April 20 to 22.
Taylor Lam (11), Sara Min (11), Kelly Shen (11) and Tiffany Wong (11) received first place in the Senior Division Presentation of Action Plan with their skit. Stephanie Shen (9) and Luisa Pan (9) placed with their teams in the Middle Division Multi-Affiliate Global Issues Competition (MAGIC). Jin Tuan (10) placed fourth in the Senior Division Global Issues Problem Solving individual competition and will be competing at the 2018 International Conference as a MAGIC participant over the summer in Wisconsin.
Middle school students Shahzeb Lakhani (8), Kailash Ranganathan (8), Rohan Thakur (8) and Daniel Wu (8) placed first in the Middle Division Global Issues Problem Solving team competition and third in the Middle Division Presentation of Action Plan with their skit. As part of Harker FPS’ lower school outreach program, Harker qualified two lower school teams to the State Bowl this year. Oskar Baumgarte (5), Aarit Gupta (5), Jacqueline Huang (5) and Sriteja Kataru (5) and placed third in the Junior Division Presentation of Action Plan with their skit.
“We were actually super surprised and obviously very happy,” Kelly said. “Going into the awards ceremony, our team was unsure about how we would place because the two other teams that made it to finals were both really strong, so we were super happy to find out that we had won.”
FPS’ many competition divisions include the Global Issues Problem Solving competition, in which students compete as teams of four or as individuals to solve an underlying problem within a topic based on a future scenario story. In the MAGIC division, students are placed in random teams of four with students from other schools to complete the problem. The six-step process spans two hours and concludes with an action plan presentation, where the students discuss how they would implement their best solution. In the Presentation of Action Plan competition, teams choreograph and script a skit demonstrating how their action plan works.
Students visited the USS Midway Museum before the competition began. After the first day of competition, the students practiced their action plan presentations for the rest of the teams in one of the hotel’s conference rooms.
“My favorite part of the trip was when the whole FPS group, spanning from lower schoolers to high schoolers, got to the hotel after the first day of competition and all met in the hotel conference room to show our presentation of action plans and give each other feedback,” Taylor said.
This year’s FPS International Conference will be held from June 6 to 10 at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
