![“[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)
Student journalists Mercedes Chien (10) and Devin Nguyen (12) have been declared National Winners in the 2012 International Writing and Photo Contest.
The competition was co-sponsored by Quill and Scroll, the international high school journalism honor society, and the American Society of Newspaper Editors’ High School Journalism Initiative, at HSJ.org. Out of 3,039 total entries, 302 were selected as National Winners.
Winged Post photo editor Mercedes and 21 other student journalists won in the news photography category, out of 250 entries. Her winning shot was entitled “Boy Yelling Enthusiastically.”
“I never actually thought about winning anything; it was just one of the better photos that I took, so winning for it just feels really good,” Mercedes said. “I’m just really happy that I got recognized for something that I love.”
In the photo, Vincent Lin (10) screams in celebration along with the rest of the sophomore class after winning the game of tug-of-war at the Homecoming game.
Journalism advisor Christopher Daren commended the “raw emotion at the school event that she captured.”
Meanwhile, Talon photo editor and web designer Devin received an award in the sports photography section, for a photo of a water polo player underwater. Daren identified the underwater perspective as his likely edge in the competition.
“He’s in the water right behind the player, so it’s that angle that most people don’t get,” Daren said.
There were a total of 23 winning photos out of 252 entries in the sports photography category.
Winning would allow both Mercedes and Devin to apply for Quill and Scroll college scholarships if they chose to major in journalism.
![Winged Post Editor-in-Chief Katerina Matta and Managing Editor Young Min were selected as first place winners from a pool of around 2,000 students. “This page [shows] how much we paid attention to detail and how much we pushed ourselves to ensure the best quality that we could,” Young said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/IMG_4254-900x1200.jpeg)
