![“[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)
On the first school day of Homecoming Week, the freshmen and sophomores showed their class spirit by wearing costumes and props that represent characters from their Disney movies, Pirates of the Caribbean and Toy Story respectively.
By dressing up and checking in at Manzanita during lunch, students from each grade helped their class gain spirit points that add to the total score at the end of the week.
While certain students chose not to dress up, others failed to remember that today was their dress up day.
“I honestly do not have a set schedule. Today is a certain day, so I will dress up. It [did] not really cross my mind until I enter[ed] the parking lot and [realized] I forgot to dress up,” Jeton Manuel (10) said.
On the other hand, some students remembered to earn points for their class by dressing as particular movie characters. While a common costume among sophomores was a cowboy representing Woody or a cowgirl representing Jessie from Toy Story, Katy Sanchez (10) displayed her class pride by wearing a dinosaur onesie, which represented Rex.
Several freshmen also expressed enthusiasm towards their first Homecoming Week by wearing an entire pirate costume or even by wearing an eye patch.
“[Homecoming Week] is really spirited compared to the middle school and the lower school,” Namitha Vellian (9) said. “If everyone didn’t dress up, then we wouldn’t get spirit points and we wouldn’t beat everyone else.”
Many students are looking forward to events during the week such as the car bashing and the tug of war. Homecoming Week continues with Halloween dress up day on Wednesday and Junior and Senior dress up day on Thursday.
