![“[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)
On Wednesday, September 12, the Public Forum debate team held its first ever Topic Talk with teachers. The Talk consisted of a panel of teachers who answered questions that the debaters had about a central topic.
The Talk was focused on the October topic to give the students a chance to prepare for their upcoming tournaments. The October topic, as determined by the National Forensics’ League is “Resolved: Developed countries have a moral obligation to mitigate the effects of climate change.”
As the first ever discussion for debate involving teachers, the Talk was planned by the Team Development Committee, consisting of team captains Maneesha Panja (11), Varun Gudapati (12), and Pranav Sharma (12).
“Last year, we had this topic talk that some other kids from last year started where they talked about arguments, [but no teachers were involved],” Maneesha said. “I realized that the thing that helped for me was if I talked to experts about it. I knew that all these teachers know a lot about the topic, and that’s why I thought if we invited them all in together and had kids ask them questions, it would be good.”
Teachers on the panel included Daniel Ajerman, Dr. Mala Raghavan, Dr. Matthew Harley, Robbie Korin, and Daniel Hudkins, many of whom teach either biology or chemistry.
“I decided to participate because I used to teach environmental science, so I’m interested in the topic, and I just wanted to help out,” chemistry teacher Korin said.
About 10 to 15 students participated in the Talk, a number that was not surprising to the organizers.
“I expected […] the numbers that we got. I know we scheduled it around Club Fair, which we’re probably going to try and change next time.” Maneesha said. “I would probably expect more turn out for the November topic because half of the team is debating that topic, [compared to about 15 debating October’s].”
Students who attended ranged from freshmen hoping to compete in their first debate in October to seniors who are beginning their fourth year. Sophomore Vamsi Gadiraju wanted to get a head start in his preparation for an upcoming tournament.
“I thought it would really help to get a better view of the topic as a whole from the teachers of chemistry [since] us students don’t have as broad of basics [about the subject] as they do,” he said.
The Team Development Committee hopes to hold one or two Talks per month this year.
