![“[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 staff opened Spirit Week by dressing up and competing in various games for spirit points during the “Tournament of Champions” spirit assembly in the Athletic Center on Monday.
Each grade wore their predetermined themes based on different locations: frosh wore clothing for an amusement park, sophomores the beach, juniors the mall and seniors a concert. Harker Spirit Leadership Team Media Team Coordinator Shreeya Merchia (12), Associated Student Body Spirit Coordinator Luke Mehta (12) and HSLT Community Committee Coordinator Anish Jain (12) introduced the first activity, a game of basketball knockout. Participants split into two groups, and the winners of each group advanced to a final round which Max Xing (12) won, representing the senior class.
Students then battled in a “Dap Off” contest where representatives from each class competed to display their best secret handshake incorporating music and dance. Frosh Samaara Patil and Christine Deng won performing to “I Love It” by Icona Pop, seniors Carol Song and Justin Chao came in second, juniors Jason Shim and Grant Yang in third and sophomores Elie Ahluwalia and Angelina Antony in last place.
Director of Student Organizations Eric Kallbrier helped guide HSLT’s planning and preparations for the assembly. He emphasized how taking a hands-off approach allowed the team to use their creativity and create a memorable spirit event.
“It was a great way to start off the week,” said Kallbrier. “It was completely student-run and student-driven, and I was just the guardrails for any safety concerns for the activities that they chose to do. I mainly just gave some advice and answered any questions they had, and that created a lot of fun moments which really made the whole event better.”
Afterwards, sophomores Aman Chandra and Yash Greene, who emerged as finalists from over a dozen participants in a prior elimination tournament, fought to win the Ping Pong Tournament of Champions. Yash emerged victorious and highlighted the many qualifying matches that the two played to be able to face off during the assembly.
“Both Aman and I were really nervous before the match,” Yash said. “But I think we both played decently well. We were pretty evenly matched, but in the end I just took most of the points. We had gone through elims, quarterfinals and then semifinals on Friday, so I was glad we were able to get to play in the finals today.”
Finally, HSLT members and chemistry teacher Andrew Irvine participated in a fashion show which represented the dress up themes for the rest of the week. Fashion show participant Alex Zhong (11) enjoyed the experience and noted how the team was able to overcome technical difficulties throughout the course of the assembly.
“The fashion show was pretty fun for me to do,” Alex said. “Even though there were a couple of hiccups, such as when the music stopped working for a while, I think [HSLT] managed to recover from them well. Overall, [the assembly] went pretty nicely, and people seemed to enjoy it too.”
