![“[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)
The annual gingerbread house building competition sparked holiday cheer and friendly class competition in Manzanita Hall during long lunch on Dec. 5.
The seniors took first place, the juniors second and the sophomores and frosh earned third and fourth place, respectively.
Seniors crafted a gingerbread house with gumdrops around the sides and oreos and marshmallows on top of the roof. They used a mix of oreos and graham crackers to create and some blue and green candy to make a pool and grass. The juniors’ gingerbread house was larger than the seniors’, with three different “26”s written on various parts of the house. Junior Student Council Member Kallie Wang reflected on the collaboration involved in making the gingerbread houses.
“I liked working with other people who really care about spirit and the Class of 26, “ Kallie said. “There were a lot of different people helping. We didn’t coordinate for people to come, it’s just a lot of people in our grade who care about our class and want to participate in the spirit competition come to help out.”
Sophomores created their gingerbread house based on the idea of “27 village,” a mini-town consisting of a bright yellow house called “Pluh Palace” based on their class mascot and a house called “Larsen’s Lodge” named after their class dean Brian Larsen.
Sophomore Alice Luo shared the challenges her grade faced while building their gingerbread village, emphasizing the struggles of working within a limited time frame.
“There was really great communication between all of us,” Alice said. “There were so many people working on it and so many moving parts, but we all were trying to do well. Even though it was really chaotic, we were all trying to win. Everyone divided up the tasks and eventually, each part came together to make the whole.”
The frosh modeled their gingerbread house after the house featured in the movie “Home Alone.” They decorated their house’s front yard with their class number “28.”
Frosh Annie Yu highlighted the value of spirit activities like gingerbread house decorating in bringing students together and creating a sense of belonging.
“This was a really good opportunity for community bonding and helping people realize that their classmates are not random people that happen to be in the same class as them,” Annie said. “Instead, their classmates are their friends and people they can rely on.”
