![Cross country head coach Kevin Oliver hands flowers to seniors Kara Kister and Ada Praun-Petrovic. “It’s really sad [to be leaving]; I cried a bunch today,” Kara said. “Since I’ve been on the team for so long, and I see them every single day and all these people, it’s really sad to be leaving.”](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/DSC_3554-900x596.jpg)
![“Journalism really helped me with people skills. I [also] got to take photos and meet a lot of my closest friends in journalism that I dont think we would have otherwise. Photographing and capturing a lot of peoples memories and being able to provide people with those pictures feels super special,” Smrithi Sambamurthy (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/SmrithiSambamurthyHOH_JH-900x634.jpg)
![“[Building nerf blasters] became this outlet of creativity for me that hasnt been matched by anything else. The process [of] making a build complete to your desire is such a painstakingly difficult process, but Ive had to learn from [the skills needed from] soldering to proper painting. Theres so many different options for everything, if you think about it, it exists. The best part is [that] if it doesnt exist, you can build it yourself, Ishaan Parate said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DSC_8149-900x604.jpg)
![“Animation just clicked in a way. I had been interested in art, but that felt different. [Animation] felt like it had something behind it, whereas previous things felt surface level. I wasnt making that crazy of things, but just the process of doing it was much more enjoyable, Carter Chadwick (22) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Screen-Shot-2022-08-16-at-9.44.08-AM-900x598.png)
![“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 its played such a major role in who Ive 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 Im [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)
![“[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)
![“Im 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 theres a lot of people that are really confident in what they do, and I really admire them. Everyones 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)
![“My slogan is ‘slow feet, don’t eat, and I’m hungry.’ You need to run fast to get where you are–you arent going to get those championships if you arent 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)
![“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)
Team 1072: Build Season
February 27, 2019
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This piece was originally published in the pages of The Winged Post on February 20, 2019.
About the Contributors
Sriya Batchu, Reporter
Sriya Batchu (12) is a reporter for the Aquila, and this is her fourth year on staff. She is excited to branch out and work on different sections. She...
Vishnu Kannan, Aquila Co-Managing Editor
Vishnu Kannan (12) is the co-managing editor of Harker Aquila with a focus on sports. This is his fourth year on staff, and he hopes to continue telling...
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![Harker alum Rishab Parthasarathy (‘22), along with seven other students, represented the United States at the 19th annual International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL) from July 25 to 29, 2022, on the Isle of Man. “Every day is a new experience: meeting new people and being exposed to a really new culture,” Parthasarathy said. “I never knew that the Isle of Man had such a specific and vibrant culture, including multiple dialects of the same language within 20 miles of each other. It was really cool to be exposed to a culture that I hadn’t learned about before [and] see people who think about language.”](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/RishabHoHPhoto-475x316.jpeg)
