![“[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 president Daniel Lin (12) opened the last school meeting of the year on Wednesday.
He played a video from the newly elected ASB leadership, who expressed their excitement for the next school year.
Harker Robotics then recapped the team’s activities since the beginning of this year. Executive President Aeliya Grover (12) announced the team’s results from the Sacramento Regional competition, where they were regional finalists and recipients of the Gracious Professionalism Award. Operations President Tiffany Gu (11) added that they also won the Judge’s Award and were again regional finalists at the Monterey Bay Regional. Technical President Chiling Han (11) encouraged students to join Robotics and inform rising ninth graders of the preparatory program in the summer.
Indian Student Association co-founders Rayan Arya (11) and Rushil Jaiswal (11) announced the upcoming Holi celebration on May 17, which was originally postponed due to poor weather conditions. They also spoke of their plans to host a Bollywood movie night after AP weeks to help students destress.
Afterward, Aditya Shivakumar (10) and Trisha Shivakumar (9) asked students to participate in the Walk for Water event, a 5K walk at the Los Gatos Creek Trail on Sunday. The walk is organized by Water1st International, which raises money for women and girls in Kenya who often walk for hours each day to collect water for their families.
Charlotte Ludlow (10) then named the four Athletes of the Week: varsity swimmer Ashley Hong (12), varsity lacrosse player Chayce Milheim (11), varsity swimmer Adam Pawliger (11) and varsity tennis player Tanishk Konduri (9). Charlotte also gave a shoutout to varsity golf captain Jonathan Zhang, who won the individual league title at the West Bay Athletic League tournament on Tuesday.
Harker Conservatory representatives Shareen Chahal (12), Luke Mehta (12), Iris Cai (11), Sam Parupudi (11) and Jason Shim (11) named Downbeat member and spring musical lead actor Ian Ogden (12) as the Conservatory Student of the Month. Jason announced that this year’s Conservatory Senior Showcase will honor 19 seniors on May 18. He also commended the 17 seniors who performed at choral Senior Night on Friday. Finally, Downbeat performed a rendition to Dua Lipa’s song “Levitating.”
Daniel thanked his fellow ASB officers, Upper School Division Head Paul Barsky, Dean of Students Kevin Williamson, Assistant to Upper School Dean of Students Kelley McCoy and the student body as a whole to close off his time as ASB president. He then passed his position on to Sam, who closed the meeting.
