![“[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)
During school meeting yesterday, Assistant Director of Instructional Technology Diane Main made a presentation regarding privacy on social media sites.
Main worked with Director of Instructional Technology Daniel Hudkins to prepare an announcement on social media. They decided to focus on Facebook privacy, since most students are familiar with this social networking site.
Main’s presentation specifically addressed how students can manage their online Facebook identity. According to Main, unlike what many students may think, there are many different privacy settings that need to be manually changed to make a Facebook account completely private.
In the dropdown menu next to the Home button, there is an option for Privacy Settings. These settings allow users to control who can find their profile and send friend requests or messages.
In addition, users can manage who can see posts on their timeline and which posts they have been tagged in. There is also another option to limit past post visibility that allows the audience for older posts to be controlled.
“This becomes really important for high school students because it’s very easy to make a mistake or overshare in a way that never really goes away,” Main said. “As students think ahead to college acceptances, internships, and future jobs, they have to remember that their digital identity could be used against them if it includes things they’re not proud of.”
Junior Nicky Semenza believes that Main’s presentation was beneficial to students particularly because colleges may have access to applicants’ Facebook accounts.
“I think it’s good to get people aware of it because there’s a lot of people who post random [things],” he said. “If I was a college admissions [officer], and I saw strange pictures of [an applicant on Facebook], I would reject them.”
Sophomore Sahiti Avula agrees with Nicky, noting that being aware of the different settings is important.
“You don’t want colleges to go on your Facebook and see [bad] things that you might have done just because you didn’t properly use privacy settings,” she said.
Some students are already very careful with their privacy settings. Both Nicky and Sahiti had adjusted their privacy settings prior to the announcement.
On the other hand, Sean Pan (11) is not as concerned with privacy.
“I think that you should really only have something to hide if you […] did something bad,” he said. “Personally, it’s not that big of a deal, and if I really thought it was, then I just wouldn’t make a Facebook.”
Main and Hudkins plan on following up with another announcement concerning social media soon.
![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)
