![“[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)
Public Health Club holds meeting about China’s reopening, COVID-19 outbreak
Public Health Club Vice President Justin Chen (11) leads attendees through a discussion question at the club’s meeting in Main 2 on Friday during long lunch. The meeting started with a presentation of background information before moving into a discussion period.
January 17, 2023
The Public Health Club conducted a community discussion about China’s lifting of its “Zero-COVID” policy in Main 2 on Friday during lunch.
Co-president Fiona Yan (11) started the meeting at 1 p.m. and presented background information about the current COVID-19 outbreak in China. She traced China’s history in tackling the virus, from the Zero-COVID policy it adopted in 2020, which included mass testing, contact tracing, community-wide screening and strict travel restrictions, to the public protests in November of last year to the sudden relaxation of Zero-COVID at the start of December.
“This is definitely one of the biggest issues in public health right now, both for people in China but also for [people] around the world,” Fiona said. “Especially since a lot of people in Harker have been personally affected, I thought it was really important to provide a space for people to share their thoughts.”
Sophomore Yifan Li, who attended the meeting, explains how her personal connection to this topic motivated her to participate in the discussion. She hoped to explore more perspectives on the issue in addition to the ones she heard at home.
“My parents have been very affected by Zero-COVID and the reopening, so they’ve been very vocal about their opinions at the dinner table and whenever they’re talking to me,” Yifan said. “I wanted to come and listen to other people’s ideas as well and share my own ideas and maybe bring something home to tell my parents to see what they think.”
After presenting background information, Fiona, co-president Johnathan Mo (12) and vice president Justin Chen (11) led the attendees through six discussion questions. Participants considered advantages of the reopening, such as resuming economic activity and being able to visit family, as well as its disadvantages, including the way people currently lack information on means of protecting themselves. They also discussed possible reasons for the sudden relaxation of Zero-COVID, the lack of accurate data on infection rates as well as how the upcoming Lunar New Year celebrations, a week away, may exacerbate the severity of the situation.
“I thought the discussion was pretty productive,” Yifan said. “Honestly, I expected a lot of the things, like Fiona had experiences similar to mine, which was expected because a lot of people have family back in China. I definitely did learn a lot more from the slideshow that they showed and also learned a little bit more about what other people thought of the situation.”
