![“[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)
Associated Student Body (ASB) election speeches to take place tomorrow
A voting sign stands outside the journalism room for elections for the Class of 2025 on Oct. 1. Voting for ASB elections will take place in the journalism room tomorrow from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
March 27, 2022
The upper school will follow a special schedule tomorrow with Associated Student Body (ASB) candidate speeches taking place at 9:35 a.m. in the Athletic Center (AC) in place of morning office hours. Following speeches, the remainder of the morning block period will be dedicated to ReCreate Reading group meetings for all grades but seniors, and voting will take place at the journalism room from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Freshmen, sophomores and juniors will watch the speeches, and seniors will attend a class meeting with upper school head Butch Keller. According to Schoology posts by ASB President Dawson Chen (12) and ASB Vice President Ayan Nath (12), ASB vice president primary elections took place on Friday to narrow down the candidates from the eight students expressing interest in the position: Mir Bahri (11), Anaya Mandal (10), Krish Maniar (11), Gordon Chen (11), Rupert Chen (11), Alan Jiang (11), Daniel Lin (10) and Cynthia Wang (10). Students had the opportunity to view the vice-presidential candidates’ campaign speeches online to read about their ideas and initiatives before voting, which opened at 11 a.m. and closed at 3:30 p.m.
“Thanks for voting today for the ASB VP Primary election; the voter turn-out was 72%!” Ayan wrote in a Schoology post on Friday. “The four finalists for Monday’s general election are Gordon Chen, Daniel Lin, Cynthia Wang, and Rupert Chen.”
The president’s duties include leading Student Council and school meetings as well as creating committees. The vice president’s duties include filling in for the president or other council members when necessary, creating bonding activities and maintaining the Student Council’s documents. Creating meeting agendas, keeping track of meeting attendance and writing meeting minutes falls under the Secretary’s duties, and the treasurer must manage the budget and fundraisers and maintain accounting records. The spirit coordinator has the responsibility of collaborating with the Student Activities Board (SAB) as president of the board and leading spirit events.
The final candidates are as follows:
President: Alex Lan (11) and Kris Estrada (11)
Vice President: Gordon, Daniel, Cynthia and Rupert
Secretary: Michelle Jin (11) and Richard Zhang (11)
Treasurer: Abhi Namala (11), Jacob Huang (11), Kabir Ramzan (10)
Spirit Coordinator: Sara Wan (11), Zubin Khera (11), BB Ajlouny (11) and Ashley Ma (11)
A previous version of this article stated that the ASB candidate speeches would take place over Zoom instead of in the Athletic Center. The article also failed to mention that Kabir Ramzan (10) is also running for treasurer. The article has been updated on March 27, 2022, to reflect the correction of these errors.
