![“[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)
Students and faculty take field trip down to SeaCliff Beach for Coastal Cleanup Day
Freshmen Lexi Nishimura, Vivian Bi, and Alisa Grebin pick up small colorful shiny pieces of confetti stuck in the bush, conversing about whether there was a birthday party earlier.
September 22, 2019
Following Friday’s youth climate strike in downtown San Jose, a group of thirty-five upper school students and staff took a bus to Seacliff State Beach in Aptos to participate in clearing litter during Coastal Cleanup Day, an annual global beach cleanup volunteer day.
A school bus left the upper school around 7:45 a.m. and reached the beach a little before 9 a.m. Director of Upper School Community Service and Student Activities Coordinator Kerry Enzensperger met the group a few minutes later with gloves and grabbers to pick up trash and buckets for collecting the trash.
The large group split into groups of three and four and started cleaning near the picnic benches. Around 9:40 a.m., the students climbed down to the beach, where each group went in a different direction and started combing the sand for pieces of trash.
“I wanted to clean the beaches because I wanted to make a difference, small or big,” Uma Iyer (10), who attended the cleanup field trip, said. “It made me feel really nice to be able to help the environment. Even though my group only picked up one bucket of trash, the trash from all the different groups added up to be a lot.”
After eating lunch at noon, the faculty arranged a small competition for the most interesting find from the cleanup. The entries included a beach ball, a Hot Wheels car and a small sculpture of Sebastian, the talking crab from “The Little Mermaid,” but the winner was a small centimeter-long Jesus pendant. The group stopped by Marianne’s Ice Cream, a small ice cream shop located down the street from the beach, before heading back and returning to the upper school by 2:50 p.m.
