![“[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)
Artstravaganza arts and writing show exhibits student works and talent
Upper school mathematics teacher Caren Furtado observes several works of photography and art at the Artstravaganza exhibits. Campus art and writing exhibition Artstravaganza displayed student artwork and literature from the past year.
May 7, 2022
A gingerly cut wooden butterfly perches on a black stand. A few feet away, crawling vines wrap around the neck of a glossy pine green vase. These are just some of the creations on display at Artstravaganza, held throughout the entirety of last week in the Nichols Atrium.
Campus art and writing exhibition Artstravaganza displayed student artwork and literature from the past year, with exhibits featuring work from all visual arts classes as well as pieces recognized in the 2022 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. The reception took place last Tuesday during lunch, kickstarting with live music performed by the upper school Jazz and Lab Band.
At the reception, Harker Eclectic Literary Magazine (HELM) released its newest print issue “Renaissance” at a booth in front of Nichols while Art Club distributed copies of the HEART Zine, both clubs offering free copies to students and faculty.
“The turnout this year was a lot more than previous years because this year, we made a last-minute decision to make the copies free,” HELM co-editor-in-chief Alina Yuan (12) said. “So I guess that’s why so many people came to our booth.”
After an announcement by Jazz Band regarding upper school music teacher Dr. David Hart’s upcoming departure, Dr. Hart punctuated the Jazz Band performances with a trumpet solo, one of the musical ensemble’s traditions for graduating students.
“We have this tradition in Jazz Band that if you’re a senior and you’re graduating, you have to solo over ‘Saints Go Marching In,’” Jazz Band member Masha Velikhovskaya (10) said. “I decided that it [was] time to return the favor because he’s technically graduating this year. We surprised him and he was like, ‘You guys didn’t tell me before!’”
Following performances by Jazz and Lab Band, select writers recognized in this year’s Scholastic Art and Writing Awards including Sydney Ling (10), Catherine Feng (12), Sarah Mohammed (11), Iris Cai (9), Felix Chen (9) and Brian Chen (11) read their works aloud.
“Everyone was super supportive and more people showed up than I expected, which was really nice,” Iris said. “I liked it because it was a performance aspect of what people would normally expect to be just writing.”
Upcoming initiatives by the Art Department include the remaining Honors Directed Portfolio (HDP) exhibitions held in Shah Gallery.
