![“[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)
After school on Friday, students from all four grades gathered in the gym for the annual Homecoming Spirit Night. Each class had time to continue their progress on their respective eagles, floats, skits, and decorations for Homecoming Week.
Planned and headed by Spirit Club, the event lasted from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. This year, the spirit board members decided to bring all of the classes together to work on their projects in the gym rather than letting them work anywhere on campus like last year.
“A lot of it was because of the supervision issues,” Spirit Club President Andre Tran (12) said. “Last year, paint was left on the floor. But with everyone in the gym we can make sure all of the classes clean up after themselves, and we know who was responsible for what.”
For many students, Spirit Night not only gave them a chance to display their class pride, but also allowed them to bond and enjoy themselves.
“I think it’s a lot of fun, and it gives the class a chance to get together and meet people they don’t always meet,” Samyukta Yagati (10) said. “I had a lot of fun painting the eagle earlier, and I thought it would be nice to hang out and paint it more.”
However, some students disliked the idea of working in the gym due to difficulty in transporting their eagles.
“I thought it was a great experience. The only complaint that I would have is why we had to work inside. Because all of our classes were doing it in separate areas, moving the eagle from Shah Hall all the way to the gym was a big pain,” Nithya Vemireddy (11) said.
Despite the change in location for Spirit Night, the bonding experience gave the classes time to make progress on their eagles and floats. Expectations to finish their eagles and floats were high, and many students expressed their satisfaction at the amount of work they completed, in addition to the number of students who came out to help.
“We wanted to definitely finish our eagle and […] our float […] I am most definitely surprised by how much we actually did get done,” Freshman class president Michael Zhao (9) said.
Other students, such as Shreya Vemuri (12), also voiced similar opinions on the participation and energy of Spirit Night.
“I think spirit night has been a good turnout,” she said. “There are more people than I thought would show up […] I think it’s nice because it sets out a time on a Friday night when a lot of people are available just to come help out and show their spirit.”
Students will be able to display the effort they put into their eagles, floats, and skits during Homecoming Week, starting next Tuesday.
![Winged Post Editor-in-Chief Katerina Matta and Managing Editor Young Min were selected as first place winners from a pool of around 2,000 students. “This page [shows] how much we paid attention to detail and how much we pushed ourselves to ensure the best quality that we could,” Young said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/IMG_4254-900x1200.jpeg)
