![“[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)
The development of America’s political proceedings has sparked some questions among both the school community and the nation as a whole about the necessity of the electoral college.
The electoral college was founded during the political formation of our country. Its purpose was to offer the 13 original states, who did not fully trust a broad federal government, an opportunity to elect a president who maintained widespread support rather than strong localized followings, according to William C. Kimberling, Deputy Director of the Federal Election Commission Office of Election Administration.
State legislatures choose how to select electors. When citizens cast their votes, they are essentially voting for electors who represent a certain candidate. The electoral college was also meant to help prevent fallacies in the number of votes each candidate receives because it is a representative system.
“I think without it, the elections would be a lot messier than it is, which is saying something,” Lisa Liu (9) said. “I see how it’s necessary.”
Although this system has been in place since America’s foundational period, some students disagree with the more modern ideologies of the system.
“The electoral college makes sense in theory. When it was founded, they believed that the regular people shouldn’t have the vote because if you gave regular people the vote, they wouldn’t make informed decisions based on what the ideals of each political candidate was,” Andy Wang (11) said. “Now, when it’s being implemented in [modern] society, it’s changed over the years, so I guess there might be some issues [regarding accurate representation].”
As seen in the 2012 election of President Barack Obama, the ratio of electoral college votes often differs greatly from that of the general population. A candidate must receive at least 270 electoral votes in order to win; Obama won 332 while opponent Mitt Romney garnered 206. However, the popular vote displayed different statistics, with Obama winning by a margin of 2.6 percent as of yesterday.
“We already have the technology to accurately count every single vote more or less. I don’t see the point of the electoral college if it represents population, but the popular votes differ from the electoral college,” Nik Datuashvili (12) said.
Although members of the community maintain varying views about the electoral college, the system’s roots in American history have not indicated that it will experience any drastic changes in the near future.
