![“[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 Vice President Ella Lan (12) opened the first school meeting of the second semester on Wednesday.
Sophomores Ashley Mo and Aline Grinspan of Students for Ethical Treatment of Animals club encouraged students to be conscientious of animal safety on campus. They asked that students close doors after entering buildings so that animals do not follow and reminded students that some food, although harmless to humans, can kill animals.
Audrey Cheng (11) and Linda Zeng (10) of Language and Linguistics Club announced the North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad, a logic-based competition for high school students in Canada and the United States and invited students to a NACLO prep meeting on Thursday at 3:15 p.m. in Main 8. The exam will take place on Jan. 25 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Upper School English teacher Jennifer Siraganian discussed Poetry Out Loud, a recitation competition in which students recite a variety of poems, advancing through local, state and national competitions. She mentioned that Selina Xu (12) reached the California state finals in Sacramento last year and expressed her hopes for Harker’s success this year. Harker’s local competition will take place on Jan. 31 during long lunch in Nichols Auditorium.
President Arjun Moogimane (12) and vice president Daniel Chen (11) of the Harker Spirit Leadership Team, presented the theme for this year’s Winter Ball, “Old Hollywood,” inspired by the Golden Age of Hollywood. The ball will take place on Saturday in the Auxiliary Gym from 7 to 10 p.m.
Harker Conservatory representatives Shareen Chahal (12), Luke Mehta (12), Iris Cai (11), Sam Parupudi (11) and Jason Shim (11) congratulated the actors and directors of the Student Directed Showcases, which took place on Friday and Saturday. They invited everyone to attend the 2024 Dance Production and mentioned that roughly 100 students were performing. Conservatory then presented the first ever Conservatory Student of the Month, Cantilena singer Juhi Madala (12).
Upper School Dean of Students Kevin Williamson discussed the lockdown drill, which took place during office hours. Harker’s Run, Hide, Defend protocol encourages community members to first create as much distance as possible between themselves and the emergency situation’s immediate area. If unable to do so, they should then hide until the all-clear is announced and defend themselves as a last resort. Williamson encouraged students to take all threats seriously and to report anything that seems unusual to trusted adults.
