![“[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)
Juniors, sophomores and frosh elected their class council and student activities board representatives for the 2025-26 year on April 24.
With an 81% voter turnout, the juniors elected Lucas Chen, Sofia Shah, Nikhil Sharma and Kallie Wang as their student council representatives and Janam Chahal, Brady Tse and Claire Yu as their SAB officers.
“I just want to make senior year fun for all of us,” Brady said. “I know that we will have a lot going on, especially fall semester, but we will all push through it. Being on the senior council and getting to know everybody better for our last year is really important.”
Sophomores participated with over 82% voting. Samaara Patil, Ameera Ramzan, Andrew Shin and Chelsea Xie won the Student Council election, and Ava Alvarez, Cameron Jones and Megha Unny won the SAB election.
With the highest voter turnout, ninety-three percent of the frosh class cast their votes, choosing Dyuthi Vallamsetty, Ameya Choudhary, Avi Gupta and Amber Wang as their student council representatives and Jillian Chen, Christian Mehta and Eva Petrova as their SAB representatives.
As elected representatives step into new or returning roles, many aim to improve student life by making stronger connections with their classmates.
“I always like to say, ‘Hi’ to people and make sure they’re enjoying themselves,” Cameron said. “I love getting to know people, and that helps me as a leader because I’m able to be connected with everyone. I know most of the people in our class on a personal level, and that makes it easier for me to truly help them.”
Candidates began campaigning a few weeks in advance. Frosh and sophomore candidates submitted written responses to a list of provided questions, which deans later shared with their classes. Class deans also moderated candidate Q&A sessions in the RPAC for juniors, Nichols Auditorium for sophomores and the Auxiliary Gym for frosh on April 22.
Prior to the junior Q&A session, junior class dean Meredith Cranston emphasized the importance of the election process.
“You all deserve to hear from your prospective leaders about their ideas for senior year, their values and what they’re going to do next year,” Cranston said. “Your elected student leaders are asked to work tirelessly for you, both in the open and behind the scenes, so please pick someone you think is going to do a really good job for senior year.”
