![“[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)
Head of Upper School Paul Barsky began the school meeting on Thursday by encouraging students to visit artist-in-residence Connie Zheng’s exhibit, which is currently being displayed in the Rothschild Performing Arts Center.
Dressed in Santa hats, Associated Student Body Spirit Committee members announced the following events: gingerbread house building competition on Thursday in Manzanita, hallway decorating contest in all academic buildings and Winterfest on Friday. The seniors won the gingerbread house building competition.
HSLT members Lea Kandl-Zhang (10) and Nicholas Knauer (10) engaged students in selecting the Winterfest movie by gauging how loud the crowd cheered for each movie. Among “Home Alone,” “Elf,” “Polar Express” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” students cheered the loudest for “Elf.”
Tri-M members Hasini Namala (12) and Bhavya Srinivasan (12) announced their holiday music show at Santana Row on Dec. 22 from 5 to 8 p.m, encouraging students to sign up by Dec. 8 to perform.
ASB Student Events Committee president senior Sam Parapudi, junior Amishi Gupta, sophomore Andrew Shin and frosh Amber Wang announced Hoscars, Harker’s annual talent show, by acting out a rap battle. They emphasized that all students are eligible to participate and win awards for their performances, whether it be singing, dancing, rapping or skits. Auditions are due by Jan. 5, and all students will watch the show on Jan. 16.
HSLT member Charlotte Ludlow (11) delivered the weekly Eagle Update, beginning with the “put your eagles up” tradition. She congratulated girls varsity basketball player Isabella Lo (12) and girls varsity soccer player Kylie Anderson (12) for their performances in their respective season openers.
(Caden Ruan)
HarkerDev member Demi Zheng (10) and Green Team officer Elaine Zou (10) announced Swap&Share, a collaboration between the two organizations to create a free textbook trading app for students. Swap&Share also promotes sustainability by decreasing the amount of new books purchased every year. Demi and Elaine encouraged beta testing with a raffle for a $25 gift card for every student that provided feedback on the service.
ASB Campus Life Committee announced they would be bringing puppies to the quad during extended advisory on Dec. 9 as part of their finals week de-stress initiative.
Econometric students Alicia Ran (12) and Amishi asked students to participate in their survey to find patterns among the student population, with questions like the average number of AP classes students are enrolled in. If 500 students respond to the survey, they will hold a raffle for weeklong front-of-the-line passes.
Sam closed the school meeting.
