![“[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)
Freshman student council holds first class meeting
The freshmen officers prepare to make announcements about Homecoming week. The class meeting was the first one to be led by the student council.
Amidst the transition to the high school environment, the freshmen attended their first class meeting led by the newly elected student council in the gym on Tuesday, October 2.
The freshmen voted during lunch last Friday, and the results were released on Monday morning. Freshmen Michael Zhao, Sanil Rajput, Stephanie Huang, Dhanush Madabusi, and Eesha Chona were elected for the positions of President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Spirit Coordinator, respectively.
Many of the officers expressed enthusiasm and confidence for this school year.
“I am excited, but I am also kind of nervous too. I think the year will go pretty well [because] I have a lot of plans for the school, and I want to see what our class has to say,” Michael said.
During the meeting, the freshman student council led a presentation about Homecoming week plans and class T-shirt designs with the guidance of Class of 2016 Dean Dr. Matthew Harley.
According to Dr. Harley, since the time between the announcement of the results for class office and the class meeting was brief, the representatives could not properly prepare the presentation.
“We had a quick meeting [Monday] afternoon in part to plan this. I think that in the future as they get more preparation as well as more comfortable [with] public speaking, they will be able to elaborate a little bit more,” he said. “In general, I was very pleased with how they did and how the whole meeting ran.”
While some students felt that the meeting was well-structured, Karen Qi (9) thought the meeting could have been presented more effectively.
“Overall, it was sort of short, [even though] they discussed what was important, and it was pretty organized,” she said.
Other students felt the meeting added spirit to the start of their freshman year.
“I thought the variety of people in the student council were all really enthusiastic and happy to be there,” Malvika Khanna (9) said. “They made the entire meeting way less monotone and better to listen to.”
With the experience of presenting the first class meeting behind them, the freshman student council members hope to lead next Tuesday’s meeting with better preparation.