![“[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)
I learned a few curious things last week. Clichés are around for a good reason. When I was on stage performing in the HOSCARS, my heart, going at a million miles an hour, actually did feel like it was about to beat out of my chest. My mouth truly did feel like sawdust, and I wanted nothing more than to disappear.
That moment when the curtains opened on me was honestly the scariest in my life. I wanted to run, I wanted to hide, I wanted to smack myself on the head with my flute and make myself unconscious so that I didn’t have to play in front of seven hundred of my peers. I was going to fail, I could feel it.
But let’s backtrack for a minute. How did I end up on that stage, subjecting myself to what I initially thought was a horrible experience?
It started three years ago, when I watched my first flute-boxing video, a high-speed rendition of the Super Mario Bros. theme song, performed by Greg Pattillo. The flute took on a whole other meaning for me. It was relevant, and it sure wasn’t Mozart.
When I went to a Beatboxing 101 tutorial two summers ago, and saw Mr. Pattillo for the first time, I could definitely understand why his videos went viral. The fluteboxer had such stage presence and confidence, and he channeled his addictive energy to us novices.
But, though I would eventually listen to all of his YouTube videos, I could never bring myself to try the art form. I would look silly, I thought. Who am I to try to beatbox? I belong in the world of Mozart and symphonies, not that.
And trust me, I did look like an idiot for the first month I started to tackle the Three Beats for Beatbox Flute. Practically every sound that came out of my mouth was an embarrassing raspberry sound that I hadn’t made since the second grade. I’d practice for hours trying to get the punchy kick-drum sound, the “B” that was so essential to beatboxing.
I asked my peers for help. More than half of the 126,000 views on the “Beatbox Flute 101” YouTube video are probably mine. I was lucky enough to have a flute community that was as enthusiastic about intermingling the sounds of a drum and a flute, and incredibly willing to help me.
So I had put in the hours, and made my recording to submit to a competition, but what was I going to do next? It looked like fluteboxing was going to be shoved to some sad corner of my lyrical artillery, never to be seen again except as a parlor trick.
A couple of weeks later, my English class suggested that I bring my flute to class for our weekly presentations, and I was really grateful to see that they loved the idea of fluteboxing. I decided to audition for the HOSCARS at the urging of my class (shoutout to Dr. Douglas’s period two!), and, well, here I am. Though I was scared to the bone, another completely true cliché, I managed to grit my teeth, set my feet, and expose an incredibly fun art form to our community.
