![“[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)
Humans of Harker staff presented to Harker Journalism reporters about how to take environmental portraits for profiles yesterday during long lunch in the journalism room.
Starting in 2016, the Humans of Harker project has published full-length profiles of members of the graduating class each year. The Humans of Harker team — Co-Editor-in-Chiefs Olivia Xu (12) and Katelyn Zhao (12); Co-Managing Editors Michelle Wei (12), Sidak Sanghari (11) and Jonny Xue (11); and Profiler Aryana Bharali (11) — created yesterday’s presentation to prepare the reporters for their profile assignments this year.
“I thought it was very informative,” Reporter Kairui Sun (10) said. “They presented a lot of real examples, and they weren’t afraid to talk through the intricacies and details of the process, so I’ll definitely keep all this in mind for my portraits.”
In the presentation, Olivia, Michelle and Katelyn discussed the factors required for an effective photograph like lighting, composition and relevance to the senior’s personality. To help the reporters practice their skills, Jonny and Aryana led a game of “Humans of Harker: Hooray or Horror,” in which reporters deemed various past photographs acceptable (Hooray) or poor (Horror).
Photo Editor Brandon Zau (12) demonstrated proper profile photo-taking etiquette by pretending to take environmental portraits of Kairui on the French Patio, highlighting how reporters should make sure their respective seniors feel comfortable during the process.
“Now, I feel pretty relaxed and calm [about taking portraits] since I think I generally know what I have to do because they gave us a lot of tips on how to do it,” Kairui said. Looking ahead, the Humans of Harker team plans to publish the first batch of profiles on Harker Aquila within the next month.
