![“[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)
Upper school student council connects community virtually
Provided by Yejin Song
Attendees laugh at upper school Director of Learning, Innovation and Design Diane Main’s joke during a Zoom cook-off held by junior class council, where contestants gave presentations and taste tests of their dishes.
February 23, 2021
The upper school Associated Student Body (ASB) and class councils aim to continue events like Zoomchella, previously known as Quadchella before quarantine, in order to emulate a more realistic school environment during online learning.
“I think it’s to cheer up everyone a bit. Through the fun events during quarantine, we are trying to maintain a sense of community in the virtual environment,” ASB Secretary Helen Li (12) said. “The central theme here is just emulating the sense of community for everyone to feel at home not only because we are all physically at home but make the virtual Harker community feel like home too. Student council is trying to make the most out of challenging times like these for every single member of our Harker family.”
As the head of the community service committee on student council and president of the junior class, Dawson Chen (11) has worked with others on the council to bring various volunteer opportunities for students.
“We’re compiling a list of virtual volunteer opportunities with [Ms. Enzensperger] that should be up this week and we’re starting a monthly spotlight project where we publicize one student-run community service initiative each month,” Dawson said. “We’re also setting up a joint event with nearby public schools to discuss ways of supporting one another in remote learning and to set up a coalition to potentially organize some joint fundraisers together in the future.”
Kris Estrada (10), a member of the Happiness Committee and the new Unity Committee, strives to boost student morale with new activities and events.
“We are working on these Wednesday Weeklies that we send out on Schoology. They’re just like an open forum, where we post like these jokes, fun facts, puzzles for people to solve, and there’s just an open space for them to respond and just get like a shout out in the next week’s edition,” Kris said.
Along with continuing initiatives like Valentine’s Grams, the Student Events Committee and Happiness Committee looks to do more events such as Staff Spotlight Project as well as a pickup project to make a pickup day in the future with more tangible items delivered by the student council.
