![“[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)
New Zealand students tour Harker for a day
Students from New Zealand toured the Harker campus today during a visit organized by Harker’s wiSTEM club. The students were here on a ten-day visit, touring major attractions in and around the Bay Area.
April 16, 2019
A group of students from New Zealand visited the Harker campus on Tuesday and toured classes, participated in lab activities, and socialized with Harker students. The students, all girls, all attend various schools, but attended the “Innovative Young Minds” summer camp last summer in Hutt City, New Zealand.
The girls are visiting the Bay Area for ten days, and after arriving on Friday night, they attended Harker’s Research Symposium with buddies from Harker’s Women in STEM (WiSTEM) club, who led them around the area and explained the various exhibits. Thus far in their visit, they have toured Stanford University, Microsoft, Nvidia, Apple, and various other tech companies. While on campus, each student had a student guide, who took them to various classes and showed them around.
Two students from New Zealand explore the condiments bar at Fresh Mex during lunch.
To start off the students’ day, Upper School Division Head Butch Keller hosted a welcome breakfast. The girls were then given two options, to either partake in biotechnology labs, run by biology teacher Matthew Harley in Room 330, or to create an LED greeting card and explore computer science with computer science teachers Anu Datar and Marina Peregrino in Room 301. After they attended the various labs, the foreign students watched ASB Speeches, and then were given another option of either attending a tour of the research lab with science research teacher Chris Spenner and discussing scientific and research interests, or partaking in a physics lab, led by physics teacher Lisa Radice.
During lunch, the girls were given a tour of the campus and ate lunch, followed by the last period of the day, in which they were given the option to explore titration curves and analytical chemistry with chemistry teacher Robbie Korin in Room 324, or see an anatomy table demo and learn more about human anatomy with science department chair and biology teacher Anita Chetty.
To end the day, WiSTEM members hosted a social from 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. to allow the New Zealanders to socialize with both Harker students and learn a little about Harker as well as more about Californian culture. They ended the meetings with hugs and the exchanging of gifts, ending with final goodbyes.
WiSTEM member Rashmi Iyer (11) reaches out to hug a visiting student from New Zealand as they exchange their goodbyes at the end of the day.
