![“[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)
Students craft up creative costumes for Halloween
Students and faculty donned a variety of costumes from internet memes to childhood show characters and even other community members to celebrate Halloween on Oct. 31. In addition, Harker Spirit Leadership Team ran a contest for best costumes, with winner Avery Olson for Best Overall, Sarah Westgate (11) and Phoebe Castle (11) for Best Pair, Fern Biswas (10) for Most Creative and Jacob Fernandez (12) for funniest costume. Frosh Spencer Chang, Stanley Chen, Kairui Sun and Luke Wu took the Best Group award, and the Office of Communication ruled in the Best Faculty category.
Check out the costumes of several students in the video below.
Jeremy Ko (12): I’m dressed up as a worker from the boba store, boba chain store Happy Lemon. I decided to dress up as a worker from Happy Lemon because I currently work there, on the weekends. I have a Happy Lemon, which is a required part of our Happy Lemon [job]. And then above the shirt, I have a big apron, which basically protects your shirt and your pants from any stains. This is a jug of oolong tea that has been sitting out for a bit too long, but I’ve been giving it out to people today.
Isabella Ribeiro (11): Okay, so I’m Piglet, [from Winnie the Pooh]. So I have these ears, I just like took an old headband that I had and I printed out these ears and I taped them on. And then the shirt I got from Amazon, I just searched up “pink striped shirt.” And then I have leggings and Air Force’s.
Shareen Chahal (11): I’m Eeyore. So I don’t have the ears because I didn’t have time to make them. But that’s okay, I have this shirt I bought from Michaels, and this was part of a shirt that was bought from Michaels and I cut it up and stuck it on.
Isabella: I feel like everyone kind of knows [our characters]. Because they’re easily recognizable and they’re like really iconic, I guess. And they’re fun because there’s something about just dressing up as childhood characters that’s kind of fun.
Ava Arasan (12): So I’m dressed up as “Girlboss” from the trio “Gaslight, Gatekeep and Girlboss.” And it’s really nice to be wearing a suit, [I] feel very powerful, very confident. One reason for the whole confidence is that I’m wearing my mom’s clothes and my mom has impeccable fashion sense. So the whole suit is hers as well as this shirt.
Additional reporting and videography by Shareen Chahal, Victor Gong, Vika Gautham, Saahil Herrero, Isabella Lo, Alena Suleiman and Jessica Wang.
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