![LALC Vice President of External Affairs Raeanne Li (11) explains the International Phonetic Alphabet to attendees. "We decided to have more fun topics this year instead of just talking about the same things every year so our older members can also [enjoy],” Raeanne said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/DSC_4627-1200x795.jpg)
![“[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)
Upper school Humans of Harker journalism staff present at JEA NorCal Media Day
Upper school Director of Journalism Whitney Huang holds up the Humans of Harker magazine. The Humans of Harker team delivered a presentation today at the JEA NorCal Media Day at Palo Alto High School.
PALO ALTO, Calif. – The upper school journalism program’s Humans of Harker team presented a 45-minute workshop at the Journalism Education Association (JEA) NorCal Media Day at Palo Alto High School today.
The team, consisting of editor-in-chief Tiffany Chang (12) and managing editors Michelle Wei (11) and Olivia Xu (11), alongside Director of Journalism Whitney Huang delivered a presentation called “Profiles: Humans of [Your School],” about the current Humans of Harker program at the upper school and how to adapt it at other schools.
They presented at NorCal Media Day, an annual journalism convention for high school scholastic journalism students in the Northern California region, at an 11 a.m. session. Approximately 25 students attended the presentation, which covered the goals and details of the Humans of Harker project.
Humans of Harker is a project of the Harker journalism program that publishes an article and environmental portrait of each senior in the graduating class. Started in 2018, the project has now expanded to video profiles, a special senior issue of the Winged Post, a dedicated section in the TALON yearbook, as well as a magazine.
Tiffany, Michelle and Olivia first introduced the origins of Humans of Harker, which originated from Brandon Stanton’s “Humans of New York” project. Tiffany then outlined the project’s gradual transition to include a full length feature profile along with the senior’s environmental portrait.
Next, Michelle and Olivia discussed the logistics of Humans of Harker, from how assignments are distributed among staff members to how deadlines are orchestrated and planned.
Huang explained the elements of high-quality Humans of Harker environmental portraits, such as non-distracting backgrounds and color composition. In addition, she talked through creating compelling portraits that relate to the subject’s activities and personality.
To end off the slides, the presenters played Kathy Fang’s Humans of Harker video and spoke on Humans of Harker video profiles before taking questions from the audience.
Senior Larry Wang, from Lynbrook High School, attended the presentation, and has considered implementing an adapted version of the Humans of Harker project for his school.
“I just think that the entire concept of a senior feature, featuring your entire class, is a really good way to give your entire graduating class [a story],” Larry said. “If we were to implement this at Lynbrook, I think we would select a population of 100 seniors… and I thought it would be kind of interesting if a senior were to submit their own writing and what it means to be done, for themselves.”
The team plans to present again at the Spring JEA/NSPA Convention in San Francisco in April and the Spring Columbia Scholastic Press Association Convention at Columbia University in New York in March.
Read published Humans of Harker articles from the Class of 2022 here.
Felix Chen (11) is the co-news editor for Harker Aquila and the Winged Post, and this is his third year on staff. Felix hopes to diversify this year's...
Saahil Herrero (12) is the Senior Copy editor for Harker Aquila and the Winged Post, and this is his fourth year on staff. This year, Saahil wishes to...
Lavanya Subramanian (12) is the co-editor-in-chief of the TALON yearbook, and this is her fourth year on staff. This year, she looks forward to working...
Jonathan Xue (12) is an Editor-in-Chief of Humans of Harker, and this is his third year on staff. This year, he looks forward to telling the stories of...
Sally Zhu (12) is the co-editor-in-chief of Harker Aquila, and this is her fourth year on staff. This year, Sally wishes to interview more people around...