![“[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 on Monday, September 10 started on a different note. Instead of the ASB President stepping onto the podium and asking students to be quiet, ASB Secretary David Lindars (12) rang a large gold bell to signal the beginning of the meeting.
According to ASB President Raghav Sehtia (12), using a bell is a faster and more efficient way to start school meeting.
“We thought it would be a good way to start the morning and [to] get everyone settled down and quiet because we end up usually starting late,” he said.
He emphasized that waiting for everyone to be silent consumed too much time.
According to ASB Vice President Maverick McNealy (12), the last school meeting started five minutes late and ended five minutes late, while this Monday’s school meeting started three or four minutes earlier and finished four minutes early, giving students time to relax before class.
“It’s also a way to wake up people on a Monday morning after a long weekend,” Maverick said.
The idea of using a bell to start school meeting was brought up by Dean of Students Kevin Williamson. ASB Treasurer Kevin Lin (12) stated that Williamson had made the suggestion and that the council members had thought it to be interesting.
Although student council supports using a bell to start school meetings, not all students are in favor of the idea. Karan Das-Grande (12) agreed that the bell was more effective in starting the meeting and did not find it annoying. However, he believed it was unnecessary to wake people up.
“It didn’t wake me up at all since I was already awake,” he said.
On the other hand, Darby Millard (10), who did not notice that school meeting had started earlier, disapproved the use of the bell.
“I thought it was very loud, unnecessary, and obnoxious,” she said.
According to Raghav, the bell will be continued in the future to start school meetings.
