![“[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)
Associated Student Body (ASB) Secretary Cynthia Wang (12) broke the news that the projector was broken and that slides and videos could not be projected.
ASB president Daniel Lin (12) wished students a happy Halloween. Visual arts teacher Pilar Agüero-Esparza talked about Iranian-American mixed media artist-in-residence Pantea Karimi, who will be working with students at all three Harker campuses. Karimi will conduct a presentation about her artwork in Nichols during long lunch on Nov. 6.
Civics students Jason Shim (11), Yasmin Sudarsanam (11), Sahngwie Yim (11) and Anoushka Chakravarty (10) invited students to attend the opening of a historical exhibit in Shah Hall documenting the history of voting rights in America. The exhibit will be open until Nov. 10.
Harker Eclectic Literature Magazine (HELM) editor-in-chief Trisha Iyer (12) and junior editors Iris Cai (11), Eva Li (11) and Charlize Wang (11) introduced the theme “Burn” for the magazine’s 2023-24 annual issue. The magazine is art and writing submissions until Dec. 15, with no cap on the number of submissions.
DECA Vice President of public relations Gabe Li (11) announced November as “DECA month” and announced the club’s kickoff, an ice cream social in Manzanita Hall on Friday after school. Director of engagement Eden Kelly (10) announced the annual winter wishing sale, where DECA will be selling $5 goodie bags on Thursday’s long lunch and Friday in the Innovation Center. All proceeds will go to the Muscular Dystrophy Association. The Hustle for Muscle volleyball tournament is set to take place on next Monday’s long lunch with the frosh playing the juniors and the sophomores playing the seniors. Next Wednesday’s long lunch will be the championship and the faculty versus students game.
Vice President Aniketh Tummala (12) and Physics Problem Writer Jacqueline Huang (11) from the Physical Sciences club introduced the second Harker Physics Invitational, challenging students to solve 25 problems in 90 minutes. Levels of the problems’ difficulty will range from freshman physics to Advanced Placement (AP) Physics C. The invitational will take place over Zoom on Nov. 11 with $150 worth of prize money. Jacqueline mentioned a speaker event featuring a panel of former United States physics team members to give competition advice on Saturday.
ASB Lifestyle Committee members Fiona Yan (12), Rushil Jaiswal (11), Ananya Pradhan (10) and Nikhil Bawa (9) introduced step-and-pull foot pedals, amenities added to bathroom doors around campus to improve sanitation. The Lifestyle Committee worked with maintenance staff to install the pedals in the Athletics Center (AC) and Nichols Hall. The committee plans to install more pedals around campus.
ASB Student Events Committee members Shareen Chahal (12), Ella Lan (12), Sam Parupudi (11), Amishi Gupta (10) and Ameera Ramzan (9) explained details about Chellaween, the annual program that takes place during long lunch in the Quad where students perform singing, dancing and comedy acts, and its activities include a polaroid photo booth and interactive booths from the research club, Tri-M and the puzzle club. Chellaween took place later on Tuesday during long lunch.
Student council game night task force members Anish Jain (12), Aaron Bao (11), Jason, Amishi and Ameera announced a schoolwide game night, which will take place on Friday from 3:10 to 4:10 p.m. in Nichols Auditorium. Four gamers from each class will compete in Super Smash Bros and Clash Royale tournaments. Game night will provide refreshments for attendees.
Cynthia apologized again for the broken projector and promised to post the meeting slides on Schoology as well as two videos, one from the ASB Lifestyle Committee and one from Harker Aquila. Daniel directed students to go to Manzanita to register for the costume contest during long lunch.
![LALC Vice President of External Affairs Raeanne Li (11) explains the International Phonetic Alphabet to attendees. "We decided to have more fun topics this year instead of just talking about the same things every year so our older members can also [enjoy],” Raeanne said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/DSC_4627-1200x795.jpg)
