![LALC Vice President of External Affairs Raeanne Li (11) explains the International Phonetic Alphabet to attendees. "We decided to have more fun topics this year instead of just talking about the same things every year so our older members can also [enjoy],” Raeanne said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/DSC_4627-1200x795.jpg)
![“[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)
14th annual research symposium encourages climate action
WiSTEM volunteers Emma Dionne (10) and Vidya Jeyendran (10) lead one of the tables for WiSTEM’s food-based modeling activity. The symposium’s scheduled events included exhibit tables, keynote speakers, student and alumni panels, poster presentations and a variety of other activities and workshops.
April 14, 2019
The upper school’s Women in STEM (WiSTEM) club hosted the 14th annual Harker Research Symposium on Saturday at the upper school, with events and activities that revolved around this year’s climate theme titled “Our Survival: Saving the Planet and Healing Ourselves.”
The schedule for the symposium, which began at 8:00 a.m., featured an opening performance by the Cantilena and Camerata groups, exhibit tables, keynote speakers, student and alumni panels, poster presentations and student talks, and a variety of other activities and workshops.
The booths at the event included those of the upper school Green Team, robotics team, research club, and WiSTEM’s own “STEM Buddies” activity in which upper school volunteers helped preschool and lower school students with a set of projects. Other highlights included the “Eagles Fly Back Home” panel of alumni who talked about their journeys after graduating; the STEMnovation Challenge, in which groups of student pitched entrepreneurial ideas around climate change; and the famed annual chemistry magic show led by upper school chemistry teachers Andrew Irvine and Dr. Smriti Koodanjeri.
Dr. Max Holmes, Deputy Director and Senior Scientist at the Woods Hole Research Center, and Dr. David Haussler, Team Leader of the Human Genomics Project and Scientific Director of the UC Santa Cruz Genomics Insitute, gave the keynotes speeches for the event, along with Harker alumna Surbhi Sarna (’03), who is now the CEO and president of the medical device company nVision Medical.
