![“[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)
2019-20 yearbooks available at next distribution day
Provided by TALON
The 2019-2020 upper school yearbook, which will be made available to the Harker community on Nov. 7 during Distribution Day.
October 28, 2020
Yearbooks for the 2019-20 school year will be available for pick up during the next upper school distribution day on Nov. 7. Spring supplementals, which covered student life events, sports, organizations and academic events from March to June, will also be included with the yearbooks.
This year’s theme, Emergence, reflects the TALON Yearbook staff’s goal of capturing the changes that the Harker community has experienced in the new decade and positively reflecting on the last year.
“We chose [this theme] because we wanted to reflect on how at Harker, we’re starting to become more present in the community around us and more confident in sharing our voices,” said TALON co-Editor-in-Chief Shreya Srinivasan (12). “It’s super exciting to finally get the book out into our community’s hands because we’ve wanted everyone to see what we’ve been working on, and even though last year was a bit different than normal, there are definitely a lot of pages in the yearbook that people can look back on and realize that it was still a really good year.”
Yearbook distribution is especially important for Talon because it is the culmination of a year’s worth of effort.
“Yearbook distribution is always one of the best times of the year for us because we get to share the product we’ve been working on for the whole year. We’re not like Winged Post where we release something every month or so, so its really exciting for us to see the community’s reaction on distribution day,” said Anthony Xu, 2019-2020 TALON co-Editor-in-Chief. “Of course this year it’s not going to feel the same, but it’s still nice to know we’ve given back to the Harker community, and I hope people will flip through the book and remember all the great memories we had last year for the time we got to spend on campus.”
Though the shift to remote learning created challenges for the Talon staff, the team continued to persevere and find new ways to capture the school year.
“Every yearbook is special. Every year’s book, in the moment, is nice. But a yearbook is something that gains in its value to each of us as the years go by because it reminds us of the memories that each of us created. When we look through the pages, it takes us back in time,” said Ellen Austin, Director of Journalism. “This 2020 book is especially important because it’s the object that talks about a time we all went through together, that tested us in a time of challenge and struggle. And yet we persevered, and we did it as a community.”
The yearbook staff has also planned a special pickup day at a later date for the class of 2020 to receive their yearbooks. Check Harker Aquila for more information regarding specifics and logistics.
