![“[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-led organizations welcome prospective members in annual Club Fair
Language and Linguistics Club President Clarice Wang (12) introduces the club to prospective members. While most juniors and seniors were familiar with the format and structure of Club Fair from their underclassmen years, both freshmen and sophomores experienced the fair in person for the first time.
September 12, 2021
The annual Club Fair, which took place during the long lunch period on Wednesday, allowed students to connect with their passions by visiting club booths located at the donor plaza and RPAC lobby and signing up for those that piqued their interest.
After almost a year and a half of virtual learning, Director of Student Organizations Eric Kallbrier noticed the overall excitement and positive energy that students brought to the event.
“[I enjoyed] the enthusiasm that club leaders brought to their booths, the creativity with how they presented their clubs and programs, and then just the engagement and excitement from potential members as they perused the different offerings,” Kallbrier said.
Since upper school students found it difficult to bond with fellow club members over Zoom last year, club officers made it a priority to emphasize face-to-face interactions and communication with prospective club members at the fair.
“Last year, it was completely video editing and it was hard to mimic that human interaction,” Multicultural Club officer Andrea Thia (12) said. “This year, we worked together to put together a board, provide food and really interact with people who have questions and were actually interested.”
Beginning in 1999, Club Fair has become an established annual tradition at Harker where students can simultaneously eat their lunch and peruse the various club booths. While most juniors and seniors were familiar with the format and structure of Club Fair from their underclassmen years, both freshmen and sophomores experienced the fair in person for the first time. Freshman Harris Miller was especially surprised at the level of engagement that club officers displayed to students who were examining their booths.
“I was expecting the trifolds. I was expecting it to be a huge open area where you can walk around,” Harris said. “But I wasn’t expecting everybody to be there introducing things and being very kind. The clubs are all their own creations, [and] that’s really cool [that] they want to share that.”
Although she generally appreciated the in-person aspect of Club Fair this year, Writer’s Advocate Club officer Sydney Ling (10) noticed that advertising for her booth was difficult amongst the noise and bustle during the lunch period.
“[The biggest challenge] was marketing, like figuring out how to attract members, get sign-ups and have people come to your booth,” she said.
This year, 76 organizations had booths at Club Fair, including newly formed ones such as Music Creation Club and Biodiversity Club. According to Kallbrier, due to the growing number of organizations, it was logistically challenging to ensure that each organization had space for their respective booths. In preparation for the event, he worked with the facilities staff to arrange tables as well as additional items for every club booth.
Despite the difficulties of coordinating with both student leaders and the facilities team, Kallbrier noted the ultimate rewards of hosting Club Fair.
“[The challenges are] far outweighed by the value, which is about developing relationships and building a community, and I think that’s so important to every high school experience and beyond,” Kallbrier said. “When you join a club and you share [a part] of yourself. That’s when you find the people who share your passions.”
On Friday, Kallbrier sent an email with the Club Fair recap video and club registration form, and organizations began to plan their first meetings with new members. Clubs such as Green Team and Model UN plan to meet as early as next week.
Students are looking forward to coming together with fellow club members when meetings start to be held in the coming weeks. Sophomore Matthew Goetting expressed his excitement to spend time with classmates who share similar interests.
“I joined the Chess Club, Aerospace Club, Psychology Club and Maker’s Club, and I’m excited to learn a lot about these various topics,” Matthew said. “I don’t know too much about Aerospace or Maker’s club, but I’m looking forward to learning about new fields of interests, encountering new communities that I haven’t really talked to before and making new friends.”
