![“[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)
Freshmen, sophomores and seniors attend LIFE assemblies, juniors meet Eagle Buddies
November 14, 2018
Freshmen, sophomores, and seniors attended LIFE meetings while the juniors met with their eagle buddies during lunch Nov. 6.
Freshmen discuss anxiety management
Freshmen participated in an assembly about managing anxiety in the Nichols atrium with guest speaker Jeffrey Lazarus, who specializes in medical hypnosis.
After talking about overcoming anxiety in and outside of school, Lazarus called on upper school Visual Arts teacher Joshua Martinez and encouraged him to talk about his experiences with anxiety. Martinez spoke about his fear of public speaking. Then, Lazarus told Martinez to envision turning down his anxiety and how that would feel, and asked him to practice doing so every day. Lazarus encouraged to students to practice this “self hypnosis” to get rid of their anxieties.
“Any time I have to stand in front of a group of people, I get very nervous about it,” Martinez said. “Talking about being nervous about performing did a cool thing where halfway through I felt super comfortable, which I think was sort of what he was trying to illustrate.”
Some students also found themselves fascinated by the assembly.
“The speaker was really intriguing, especially when he discussed how you can hypnotize yourself into becoming calm,” Jackie Hu (9) said. “I never thought about it that way.”
Sophomores plan courses
The sophomores listened to academic dean Kelly Horan talk about course planning in the Nichols atrium.
First, students filled out information about the time commitment and enjoyment of their courses and extracurriculars. Then, Horan led the students in a discussion about their choices for their junior year courses, encouraging the students to allow the information in the table to guide them in their choices. Horan brought up the situation of an unnamed student, explaining to the students that, like her example, they too would both perform better academically and enjoy their high school career more if they chose the difficulty of their junior year courses based on their experiences in their sophomore year.
“Sometimes when we learn a little more about balancing, we have different outcomes that might be associated with having more positive experiences both inside and outside of class,” Horan said. “This is something you need to think about when you’re making the choices that you have.”
Afterwards, upper school history teacher Katy Rees discussed the difference between AP and Honors U.S. History.
“It is covering all of US history, from 1491 to the present, which means you’re moving at a very rapid pace,” Rees said of the AP course. “So for students are really good at managing their time, who really enjoy reading history, who find that when they read the textbook, they are comprehending most of it on their own and need some expansion or clarification on the topic, AP US history is a great course for you.”
After Rees’s discussion of history courses, Horan spoke about the challenges of junior year, including harder classes, greater commitment to programs and college counseling, before responding to pre-submitted student questions about course selection.
Horan also delved into resources the students could turn to while choosing their courses, standardized tests — taking a brief break from the assembly’s focus on the future to announce that PSAT scores would be returned around Dec. 12 — and opportunities students could take advantage of over the summer.
“My favorite option [on the slide] is ‘relax and see where your boredom takes you’,” Horan commented.
She wrapped up the meeting with a live Q and A with students.
Juniors meet with Eagle Buddies
At the same time, the juniors met with their Eagle Buddies at the Bucknall campus for games and activities, as well as lunch with the fourth graders.
Seniors talk with alumni
Seniors spent time in the Nichols auditorium with alumni Andrew Luo ’13, Izzy Connell ’13, Michelle Lo ’12, Jessica Khojasteh ’11 and Jacqui Villarreal ’15, who answered the seniors’ questions about college. Jane Keller asked the alumni pre-submitted student questions.
Students will participate in LIFE assemblies and meet their eagle buddies next on Jan. 31.
