![“[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)
Fifth annual service fair features volunteer organizations and service opportunities for students
Anoushka Buch
Vaishnavi Murari (11) talks about service opportunities at the intersection of music and computer science as a student representative for the volunteer organization MusiCodes, along with the co-founders Michelle Si (11) and Aarzu Gupta (12), at the annual service fair. The service fair featured booths from 28 volunteer organizations in the Nichols Auditorium on Oct. 30.
November 6, 2019
Student-led and local volunteer organizations presented various community service opportunities to upper school students during the annual service fair, which was held in the Nichols Auditorium on Oct. 30.
The fair, which has happened annually since 2015, helps students explore volunteer service further than their graduation requirement through a diverse array of organizations that host informational booths.
Upper school biology teacher Mike Pistacchi, who began the first service fair at the upper school, appreciates how the fair has grown through the years.
“Our first service fair had, I think, 10 organizations and was at lunch. And that’s now evolved to 28 organizations, with an assembly and a whole hour of the middle of the day,” Pistacchi said.
Pistacchi recognizes the importance of service for Harker students and feels that the service fair is a good opportunity for students to engage in outreach.
“I think [service is] important for everybody. And to the extent that we have good fortune and power and privilege, I believe that we have a responsibility to help those who do not have as much good fortune or power or privilege,” Pistacchi said. “So within our community, we have a lot of potential to do good in this world, both now and in the future.”
One of the featured organizations was the International Outlook Foundation, started by seniors Tiffany Zhao and Ellen Guo, which fosters multicultural relationships by connecting American and Chinese high-schoolers through Outlook Pals, their pen-pal program.
“We realized that we have a lot of resources as multicultural students and then decided to utilize those resources to help fundraise and also to help foster cultural exchange between the Chinese and Americans here,” Tiffany said.
Student representative Nathan Sudeep (12) hosted a booth for Power of Words, an organization that teaches writing to underprivileged kids. Nathan values community service to understand and interact with groups with which he typically does not get the opportunity to engage.
“I feel like [volunteer service] is a way to get involved in your community,” Nathan said. “We’re in our own very secluded bubble [here] and community service allows us to step out of that bubble, see the problems with our inner our own community and help address those problems.”
While student representatives hosted the booths, students interested in joining community service organizations walked around the atrium, asking questions about the various volunteer organizations and signing up for the ones that piqued their interests.
Though freshman Zubin Khera has not yet started to partake in community service actively, he feels he should start volunteering not only due to the graduation requirement but also based on a genuine desire to help others.
“I need to do more [service]. Service should be done not just for volunteer hours … [and] good college apps,” Zubin said. “It should be done because you’d genuinely want to do it.”
