![“[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)
School meeting recap 11/4/21: DECA Month, Thanksgiving grams and spirit standings
Alex Lan (11), Cynthia Wang (10), Eric Li (9) and Kailash Ranganathan (12) from the ASB Community Service Committee introduced Thanksgiving grams, which were sold on Thursday and Friday, with a short skit. Each gram includes chocolate, stickers, stationery and a personalized message for $3 as a way to show gratitude throughout the community.
November 7, 2021
Associated Student Body (ASB) president Dawson Chen (12) started off the school meeting on Thursday by introducing DECA officers Catherine He (12), Shreeya Merchia (10) and Claire Luo (10), who talked about DECA month and its fundraising events for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
DECA will be offering Eagle Entrepreneurship on November 8th, an event for students in the Harker community to hear about various business endeavors from speakers and Dine with DECA on November 12th, a luncheon opportunity for students to connect with real industry professionals to encourage business and entrepreneurship growth. They also will be conducting Hustle for Muscle, a student and faculty volleyball tournament in coordination with spirit.
Additionally, DECA is organizing Winter Wishes, a fundraiser for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. For $5, students can send a holiday gift that includes Ghirardelli chocolate, peppermint candy canes, hot cocoa, a small note and either a polar bear stuffed toy or a holiday themed rubber duck, to anyone in the Harker community. Winter wishes can be ordered for $5.00 at tinyurl.com/decawinterwishes (if you are a student), or tinyurl.com/decawinterwishesfaculty (if you are a member of faculty) by November 30, 11:59 pm! Recipients will receive their Winter Wishes before Finals week.
BB Ajlouny (11), Elvis Han (12) and Zain Vakath (11) delivered the Eagle Update announcing the current competitive standings of various fall sports.
Girls golf placed seventh out of 16 as a team in the CCS championship in Carmel, with senior Tina Xu placing sixth individually and earning a bid in the NorCal tournament.
Girls tennis earned several awards at the WBAL individual qualifying tournament. Audrey Feng (9) won the individual league title, doubles team Rachel Hernandez (10) and Olivia Guo (9) won the tournament to earn the league championship, and all three athletes will be playing in the CCS tournament.
Boys water polo lost the pro league tournament, but earned the first seed in the CCS Division 2 bracket. Girls water polo earned third place in the SCVAL tournament after defeating Gunn High School 7-5 and also achieved a milestone earning fourth seed in the CCS Division 2 bracket.
Cross country races in the WBAL championship on Friday to determine qualification for CCS which takes place next Saturday.
Alex Lan (11), Cynthia Wang (10), Eric Li (9) and Kailash Ranganathan (12) from the ASB Community Service Committee introduced Thanksgiving grams, which were sold on Thursday and Friday, with a short skit. Each gram includes chocolate, stickers, stationery and a personalized message for $3 as a way to show gratitude throughout the community.
Paulina Gicqueau (11) and Ashley Ma (11) represented HSLT and announced spirit updates from October. They mentioned that Homecoming dress up day raffl, scavenger hunt and Halloween dress up prizes are ready for winners collect.
They also announced results of the pumpkin carving contest, with the sophomore class taking first place, followed by the juniors, with the seniors and freshmen taking third and fourth. The current overall spirit standings are as follows: seniors in first, juniors in second, sophomores in third and freshmen in fourth.
Finally, Paulina and Ashley announced upcoming HSLT events for November, including a pumpkin pie eating contest, a Marvel Kahoot, a Taylor Swift themed jeopardy game and more.
Dawson concluded the meeting with a reminder to help keep the campus clean.
