![“[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 gathered in history teacher Carol Green’s room for Harker Model United Nations (MUN) Club’s kickoff event on Sept. 22 from 3:30 to 8 p.m.
Officers first introduced the basic rules of MUN conferences. During conferences, delegates engaged with others through two types of caucuses. In a moderated caucus, delegates take turns speaking on the floor to advance their viewpoints under the supervision of the moderators, while in an unmoderated caucus, delegates freely roam around and talk to others. They also formed blocs with other delegations who have similar interests and drafted resolutions together. Afterwards, students split into two groups for a mock MUN conference. Frosh attendees formed the first group and discussed a fictional prompt about an alien invasion in Mongolia, while sophomore and junior attendees debated the ramifications of floods in Pakistan.
“I liked seeing the unique ideas and interpretations of the prompts,” Director-General Marketing: Social Media Sophia Ou (10) said. “The discussions were nice to witness, and the atmosphere was lively.”
For participant Timothy Deng (10), who represented Lebanon in the sophomore and junior conference, the conference was an opportunity where he could explore more about Lebanon.
“I have some background of [Lebanon],” Timothy said. “But as someone who thinks more about the political side of things, I got to look more at environmental aspects as well for a more nuanced perspective.”
After a dinner break at 6 p.m., the mock conferences resumed. The day concluded with an awards ceremony to recognize the seven best-performing participants in each conference. Attendee Tarush Gupta (9), who chose to represent the fictional Chief Intelligence Officer of Lerin, found it helpful that the conference structure mimicked official MUN tournaments.
“I did enjoy being in [my] position [of Chief Intelligence Officer],” Tarush said. “I would like to, however, be in a position of a country in the future so that I can not only represent the intelligence of the entire world, but also the actual actions of one country, because that would give me a more consolidated perspective.”
