![“[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)
2020 Democratic primaries race opens with first round of presidential bids
Wikimedia Commons
From left to right: Democratic 2020 candidates Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and former San Antonio mayor Julian Castro.
January 13, 2019
Three prominent Democrats—Sen. Elizabeth Warren, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and former San Antonio mayor Julian Castro, and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard—have announced their candidacy for the 2020 presidential election, setting the Democratic primaries race in motion.
Warren, a socialist-leaning Democrat who has represented Massachusetts in the Senate since 2013, first declared her decision to form an exploratory committee for the 2020 presidential race on New Year’s Eve via Twitter. She has since travelled to Iowa, whose caucuses are the first in the 2020 presidential election cycle, for a preliminary visit during the weekend of Jan. 4.
Castro announced his bid for the presidency at a rally in San Antonio on Jan. 12. In his speech, he called for immigration reform as well as solutions to climate change, voicing his support for the Green New Deal, an environmental reform bill proposed by freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., earlier this year.
As mayor of San Antonio, Castro implemented a funding program to provide pre-kindergarten education to all children, an plan that he intends to administer across the entire nation if he is elected president.
His bid comes a day after Gabbard announced her preliminary presidential bid on Friday in an interview with CNN’s Van Jones.
