![“[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)
Mythology Club, Origami Club and the Japanese National Honor Society (JNHS) held a joint meeting on Japanese mythology during long lunch on Monday.
Mythology club member Chloee Yang (11) began by explaining how Japanese folklore was a mix of Shintoism, Buddhism and Chinese mythology. She talked about the heroes involved within Japanese mythology like Tomoe Gozen, a folklore character renowned for beauty and strength.
“My favorite part about the presentation was the different heroes and stories,” Chloee said. “I researched it because stories are the basis of mythology, and I like them because they give me creativity and inspiration.”
Origami Club guided participants in crafting their own origami mythological figures: kappas, tengus and onis.
Origami Club co-president Nikhil Sharma (11) noted how the goal of three-way collaboration was to attract more members to allow for more people to learn about Japanese mythology and participate in folding origami. He also noted his favorite part of the meeting.
“I hope people just had a good time, enjoyed and learned something new about Japanese methodology,” Nikhil said. “That’s the overall goal. The origami started to supplement and be a fun activity, but I hope people came away with some new understanding of Japanese culture.”
JNHS vice president Bella Chen (12) thought that the collaboration allowed for each of the clubs to open up potential topics for each other that none had thought of to cover before.
Bella said. “It’s definitely something we want to do in the future, to collaborate with other clubs and to spread Japanese culture to our members and then also other clubs as well.”
