![“[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)
Harker Journalism staff members attend CSPA Spring Convention, explore New York City
Provided by Chris Waugaman
Harker journalism poses with the Gold Crown plaques at the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) Spring Convention in New York City today. Harker Aquila and the Winged Post received Gold Crown awards “for overall excellence.”
March 17, 2023
NEW YORK — 14 upper school journalism students participated in the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) Spring Convention in New York City from Wednesday to Friday.
Students from across the country attended the convention at Columbia University, which consisted of three days of workshop sessions starting on Wednesday and concluded with an award ceremony on Friday. Sessions each lasted 45 minutes and were led by student editors and journalism advisers.
Harker journalism students led three sessions on Wednesday — ”Afflicting the Comforted and Comforting the Afflicted,” “New App: Newspaper Organizer” and “Humans of (Your School)” — along with one session on Thursday — “Jumping into the Deep End of Advising.” Former adviser Ellen Austin joined current journalism advisers Whitney Huang and Kevin Oliver to present at the Thursday session.
The convention was attended by hundreds of middle and high school student journalists from across the country. Winged Post and Aquila Managing Editor Arjun Barrett (12), who presented at the “New App: Newspaper Organizer” session, noted how valuable the convention was to learning about the convergence of journalism and other disciplines.
“We’re at a really beautiful campus in Columbia, and we’re able to talk about all sorts of different things that pertain to journalism [at the convention], whether that be ChatGPT and how it’s relevant to writing articles or ways to protect yourself from censorship by administration,” Arjun said. “There are so many ways that journalism intersects with other fields, and we’re able to explore those at a huge convention like this, so it’s just been really fun.”
The awards ceremony started Friday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. to honor the 2023 CSPA Crown Award Finalists, which were selected from a total of 805 publications. Prior to the convention, CSPA recognized Harker journalism publications Harker Aquila and the Winged Post as CSPA Crown finalists, as well as Harker literary magazine HELM.
At the student awards convocation, HELM received a Silver Crown, and both Aquila and Winged Post received a Gold Crown. This is the “highest recognition given by the CSPA to a student print or digital medium for overall excellence” and “outstanding achievement in the writing, editing, design and production of a superlative student publication.”
Throughout the three days of the trip, beyond just attending the convention, students and chaperones explored much of New York City. On Wednesday evening, they watched the Broadway show “Wicked” in Gershwin Theatre and on Thursday, they shopped and dined at Rockefeller Center before embarking on a night-time tour of the Empire State Building. After the CSPA convention ended on Friday, students shared dinner with Austin at Benjamin Prime Steakhouse. The group returns to San Francisco on a flight tomorrow afternoon.
“The ambience of the city is a lot different from the Bay Area,” TALON Student Life Editor Angelina Hu (11) said. “There are just a lot more people here, a lot of lights and tall buildings. [I liked] walking around the streets and seeing the architecture. I also liked going to Broadway, because the performance was just incredible and the stage, outfits and singing were just cool.”
Harker will attend the JEA/NSPA Spring Journalism Convention in San Francisco in late April.
