![“[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)
Upper school students and faculty commenced Homecoming Week by dressing up in their class themes, and students competed to build marshmallow-spaghetti towers in front of Manzanita Hall on Monday.
Students from each grade dressed up according to their class musical theme. Seniors wore green clothing and witch hats in spirit of “Wicked,” and juniors sported patriotic colors and colonial dress for “Hamilton.” Sophomores donned red, white and blue outfits for “High School Musical,” and frosh wore blue and white outfits and dresses for “Mamma Mia!”
Students who dressed in their class theme and checked in with Harker Spirit Leadership Team (HSLT) representatives in front of Manzanita Hall during lunch earned spirit points for their class. Teachers also joined in on the spirit with colorful outfits. Upper school math teacher and senior class adviser Bradley Stoll displayed his class spirit with green face paint.
“When I was in high school, we didn’t really have spirit weeks, but our school was spirited around sports,” Stoll said. “Here it’s not like that because [the students] are commuting and doing homework, but I think having some school spirit is an important part of community.”
Students also constructed towers using only marshmallows and spaghetti during lunch. Juniors Jia Jia Jiang, Sonia Yu and Tiana Salvi built the tallest, structurally-sound tower, earning gift cards from stores of their choice as their prizes.
“I participated in the marshmallow contest because I thought it would be fun, and it definitely was a fun and rewarding experience,” tower-building competitor Victoria Ma (10) said. “I got to make some new friends, and even though our tower fell, it was good to participate.”
HSLT coordinates Homecoming Week’s events, working behind the scenes to plan themes and dress-up days. HSLT President Arjun Moogimane (12) reflects on the significance of spirit in unifying all students and faculty.
“Spirit is really important because it’s for everyone,” Arjun said. “It shows that you’re a member of our community. [HSLT] puts on events for everyone, not just for a certain group of people. My favorite parts of spirit are the rallies where we have the entire school just up in one place all together.”
