![“[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)
College athlete signing ceremony celebrates recruited seniors
Recruited senior athletes Alexa Lowe, Ishaan Mantripragada, Ritika Rajamani, Megha Salvi, Austin Wang, Bobby Wang and Sophie Zhang-Murphy pose for a group photo following the annual college athlete signing ceremony.
April 30, 2022
The upper school athletics department recognized nine seniors during the annual college athlete signing ceremony in the Athletic Center at 12:45 p.m on Thursday.
Seniors Alexa Lowe, Ishaan Mantripragada, Megha Salvi, Ritika Rajamani, Austin Wang, Bobby Wang and Sophie Zhang-Murphy, along with Mark Hu and Tara Ozdemir, who did not attend the ceremony, will continue to play their sports at the collegiate level as recruited athletes.
Upper School Athletic Director Dan Molin initiated the ceremony by congratulating the seniors. The seven present seniors introduced themselves to the audience, which consisted of peers, teachers and family members, before participating in a mock signing that signified their transition from the high school to collegiate level of sports.
Megha, who committed to Johns Hopkins for soccer, expressed gratitude for her teammates on the girls soccer team.
“I’m excited to play high level collegiate soccer,” Megha said. “I’ve always loved the sport, so exploring it further than high school will be really exciting for me. The Harker team is so close knit and we always feel almost like a second family.”
Austin, Bobby and Mark, members of the varsity boys baseball team, will attend Caltech. After the ceremony, the seniors’ friends, family, coaches and teammates congratulated them, providing them with hugs and flowers.
“[The most exciting part of the ceremony was] probably signing the letter coming in, but also getting picked up by my friends,” Bobby said. “Going to the same school with my friends from the past four years, my brother [Austin] and Mark, and continuing that friendship in the game and in the classroom for the next four years will be really fun.”
Prior to the signing, Molin introduced varsity girls softball head coach Laurisa Hernandez, who acknowledged and gifted flowers to team seniors Emma Crook, Madeleine Hansen and Uma Iyer. Despite the cancellation of softball season due to a shortage of team members, Hernandez wanted to celebrate their dedication to the team throughout high school.
“We decided to recognize the seniors because they have been playing for the three years,” Hernandez said. “With this being the[ir] last year, [they] deserve recognition for being on the team even though [the season] didn’t go as planned.”
Below are the recruited seniors, their respective universities and their respective sports.
Mark Hu: Caltech, Baseball
Alexa Lowe: Carnegie Mellon University, Track & Field
Ishaan Mantripragada: Caltech, Soccer
Tara Ozdemir: Stetson University, Beach Volleyball
Ritika Rajamani: Swarthmore College, Cross Country
Megha Salvi: Johns Hopkins University, Soccer
Austin Wang: Caltech, Baseball
Bobby Wang: Caltech, Baseball
Sophie Zhang-Murphy: Princeton, Golf
