![“[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)
Students from all grades gathered outside of Manzanita Hall to add finishing touches to their eagles during the annual Spirit Night on Friday from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.
All grades were required to complete their eagle and submit a brief description of their work by the deadline of 5 p.m. Seniors adhered to their theme of magic by painting their eagle with warm colors to emulate a phoenix. With the apocalypse theme, juniors decorated their eagle with skeletons and other doomsday characters and dressed the statue in tattered clothing. Sophomores covered their eagle with a galaxy pattern for the space theme, while frosh adorned their statue with white seashells containing the names of everyone in the grade for the ocean theme.
Because the class of 2028 placed fourth last year, sophomore class council member Avi Gupta described how the grade improved their planning.
“What we did this time that was different from last year is two of [the eagle painters] were on each section of the eagle, and they outlined it and traced it in the weeks leading up to this,” Avi said. “After we had our overall artistic vision kind of done, the eagle painters began painting.”
Students also prepared for Spirit Week events, as juniors distressed shirts for the themed dress-up day and created props for the lip sync, while seniors practiced lip sync choreography.
“We had to make sure the eagle painters had everything they needed to do,” junior SAB member Megha Unny said. “The lip sync people, we had to make sure they had all the resources that they needed, just getting the grade hyped in general.”
Frosh eagle painter Mia Q noted that the frosh struggled to attract painters and agree on designs but still emphasized the fulfillment and joy of the event.
“Communication was really rough,” Mia said. “People would make decisions prior to doing it, and everyone else did not have a clue what was going on, but I love being involved in spirit, and I love being proud of my school.”
Student volunteers handed out slices of pizza and played upbeat songs on a speaker like Train’s “Hey, Soul Sister” and Usher’s “DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love” to motivate painters.
As the clock counted down the minutes until 5:00, students hurried to add their final details. Avi appreciated the connections he built throughout the event and felt proud of the effort the class put into painting their eagle.
“[Spirit Night] brings people together from all different groups on campus together under one shared goal,” Avi said. “I’ve never really worked really close with some of these people, and the closeness it brings together is a win.”
