![“[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 recap 11/9/22: Writer’s Advocate, lunch etiquette and Music from the Eastern Hemisphere
Writer’s Advocate club officers Sarah Mohammed (12), Felix Chen (10) and Sydney Ling (11) announce their Scholastic Writing workshop, which took place after school on Friday. Using a Google form, students sent in work they hoped to submit to the contest.
Associated Student Body (ASB) President Kris Estrada (12) opened the school meeting by welcoming the Harker community after the photo slideshow on Wednesday.
Writer’s Advocate club officers Sarah Mohammed (12), Felix Chen (10) and Sydney Ling (11) spoke first about their Scholastic Writing workshop, which took place on Friday after school in the Quad. Using a Google form, students sent in work they hoped to submit to the contest. Attendees at the workshop then peer reviewed each other’s pieces, and club officers also live-edited a few of the students’ works.
Next, senior council member John Cracraft (12) spoke about lunch etiquette. He reminded students not to cut the lunch line, which is disrespectful to their fellow students and kitchen staff and also told students to exit Manzanita Hall from the side doors near the journalism room. John finished by warning that students who cut the lunch line will receive detention.
Student Council Outreach Committee members Daniel Lin (11), Kairui Sun (9), Gordon Chen (12) and Sydney Adler (12) followed up with a reminder for students to clean up after themselves during lunch. To help students remember, they have placed large cut-outs of Kris across campus with messages reminding students to clean up.
Student Activities Committee members Ella Lan (11), Sam Parupudi (10), Amishi Gupta (9) and Jacob Huang (12) spoke next about the second Quadchella of the year, which took place on Friday. To promote the event, Sam and Jacob performed with a yoga ball, an homage to one of last year’s most popular acts.
Seniors BB Ajlouny and Zain Vakath presented the Eagle Update next. Following the regular “put your eagles up,” they encouraged students to support the girls’ water polo team against Santa Cruz at 7 p.m that day following an 11-4 victory against Carmel on Saturday. The girls won that game 9-8.
Both cross country teams put on strong performances in the league final meet at Crystal Springs on Nov. 4. The boys’ team placed third, qualifying them for the Central Coast Section (CCS) Championships meet, and Kara Kister (12) qualified as an individual. Several athletes ran personal best times. The boys’ team and Kara competed on Friday at Crystal Springs.
Girls’ golf concluded their season with a 6th place finish at the Norcal tournament at the Berkeley Country club. Claire Chen (12), Harker’s top finisher, placed 28th out of 84 golfers.
Boys’ water polo lost to second seed Bellarmine on Nov. 5 in the Open Division quarterfinals. This concluded their successful season highlighted by their first ever Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) De Anza Division championship and a bid to the elite open division.
Harker Conservatory then spoke about their Music from the Eastern Hemisphere concert which took place on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in the Rothschild Performing Arts Center’s Patil Theater. To promote this event, Cantilena performed excerpts from two of their songs.
Kris concluded the meeting with shoutouts to Timothy Deng (9) for opening the doors before school meetings and ASB Secretary Michelle Jin (11) for organizing the slides for each meeting.
Andrew Liang (11) is the co-news editor for Harker Aquila and the Winged Post, and this is his third year on staff. This year, Andrew wishes to consistently...
Yifan Li (12) is an Editor-in-Chief of the TALON Yearbook, and this is her fourth year on staff. This year, she hopes to further explore creative and unique...
Jessica Tang (12) is the photo editor for Harker Aquila, and this is her third year on staff. This year, Jessica looks forward to using new equipment to...