![“[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)
During the championship matches of the school’s annual dodgeball game, the sophomores defeated the freshmen in two games to claim third place, while the juniors also defeated the seniors in two games, winning the tournament.
Junior Renu Singh pulled off a last-minute win for the juniors in their first round, singlehandedly fending off six seniors as the last junior on the court.
“It’s an amazing start to the year,” Junior Class President Arjun Goyal said. “The momentum we have from this game will carry us to victory for homecoming week.”
A major factor in the juniors’ win is the “last man standing” format of the match between the juniors and seniors; it was played such that the class with the last surviving player would win. On the other hand, the match between the freshmen and sophomores was played in a timed format, in which the class with more people left standing after two minutes would win the round.
The “last man standing” format allowed for Renu’s dramatic success, according to Spirit Club president Andre Tran (12).
“The seniors would have won [under the timed format],” Andre said. “Although [the last man standing format] is time-consuming, it was good to try it out and see what happened.”
Cheating allegations also contributed to post-game controversy. Andre acknowledged that while Spirit Club tries to make the game as fair as possible, there were too few Spirit Club referees to supervise the game completely and communicate effectively.
In the end, Andre believes that the score is of secondary importance.
“Dodgeball is just one event of many [spirit activities],” he said. “You play dodgeball to have fun.”
Next Wednesday, the juniors will attempt to defend their title against their own teachers. A team of faculty members will battle the class of 2014 during the second half of long lunch.
