The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila
Humans of Harker: Turn to talent
Humans of Harker: Turn to talent
“All my hobbies are about communication, which is something that rose very early in my childhood. When I'm shadowing a physician, it’s about, ‘She mentioned this drug, let me go home and research that.’ But at the same time, it's, ‘How is she making the patient feel more comfortable?’ When I'm outdoors in my Boy Scouts troop, it's about how can I bring all of that together,’” senior Shiven Balaji said.
Humans of Harker: Service, scouts and support
Humans of Harker: Aficionado of the arts
Humans of Harker: Aficionado of the arts
“Small improvements culminate in bigger goals. Tiny steps like increasing the efficiency of an algorithm, adding new features or beating personal records little by little, always lead to something better," senior Daniel Gergov said.
Humans of Harker: Small steps to sizeable success
“It's almost like you have to practice failing. Going through that experience, you realize that it's not the end of the world. Don't be afraid to just try to veer off and try some more unconventional methods," Eric Zhang ('25) said.
Humans of Harker: Colors of confidence
Humans of Harker: Cooking with creativity
Humans of Harker: Cooking with creativity
“There's a lot of value in every moment and everyone around you. I appreciate people who just appreciate the little things. For me, I feel like everyone you meet can teach you a little bit, and that's something that I've really internalized over the years. I think that's part of why I like being around people and different communities so much. Because in each of these communities, you can learn so many different things from everyone," Olivia Xu ('24) said.
Humans of Harker: Purpose towards progress
“I get to choose how much effort and detail I put in, and that’s what you’re going to see in the end. I love that you can see the truth on paper. A lot of my work is in black and white, so I can’t rely on color to cover it up or make it more interesting — I can only rely on my skill and willingness to go into the studio and add to my piece," Katelyn Zhao ('24) said.
Humans of Harker: Envisioning the everyday
"I used to think that I have to keep doing dance just because it's what I’m known for. But now I’ve realized there’s beauty behind all the madness that happens. And it’s now a part of me, so not doing dance or not having Legos is like I’m losing a part of my identity," Luke Mehta ('24) said.
Humans of Harker: Building with style
“Why not? So many things are very foreign or unknown to us, but there’s not much to lose by just trying things. I initially wasn’t very comfortable with DECA, especially with impromptu, but the community really helped me grow out of that. And DECA is now one of my top high school memories. Just giving things a try is really worth it, and if it fails, the worst thing that can happen is you just try something else," Claire Luo ('24) said.
Humans of Harker: It’s all in the details
"Being a lifer, I really want to put my knowledge to use. Being a TEDx speaker is a really big honor in and of itself, but to be able to actually address the Harker community was really important to me because I wanted to have an impact on the place that I've been at for 13 years," Arissa Huda ('23) said.
Humans of Harker: Prescribing change
"I’ve learned discipline: practicing a lot and then knowing what your strengths are, knowing where to improve. That discipline is definitely going to stay with me. If I’m trying to get a big piece of work done in general when I'm interested in it, I'll stop at nothing to reach my goals," Linette Hoffman ('23) said.
Humans of Harker: Artistry in motion
"I have this philosophy with theater. I wholeheartedly believe that my life was made for the stage, and all my make or break moments have happened there. While some people learn best through lectures or visuals, I learn best from having a spotlight on me," Zubin Khera ('23) said.
Humans of Harker: Scripts to success
"One of the most important things for me about performing is its transformative power. There was one concert where we were singing this commission about gun violence, followed by a piece about climate change, a piece about the Holocaust. Watching the audience's expressions and how they reacted to the music we were singing was the first time that I was like, ‘Whoa, music has the power to change lives and engender positive change,’” Sawyer Lai ('23) said.
Humans of Harker: Symphony of spirit
"It’s been fun getting to know the chefs at La Mar, their team and how different cultural influences blend together. For example, they make ceviche, which is a traditional Peruvian dish, but they infuse it with many different cultures. They have a version of their ceviche which is inspired by African tastes and spices, and they also have a Japanese form of that same ceviche dish. I think it’s interesting to watch how these fusion dishes form," Alex Lan ('23) said.
Humans of Harker: Flavors of knowledge
Prakrit Jain ('22) searches for new animal species to help the environment and wildlife.
Humans of Harker: Scorpion spotter
Arnav Gupta ('22) moves a DNA construction.
Humans of Harker: Coding for a cause
“[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.
Humans of Harker: Blast of creativity
"Every single person I've interviewed for Humans of Harker has said one killer quote that has stuck with me even through four years of high school, and I think I really do internalize those messages. There are nuances in every single person's experience that makes it unique to them and also makes it a good lesson for everyone else. It's just amazing to see how much wisdom every single person at Harker has, and it's fascinating to learn about those stories," Erica Cai ('22) said.
Humans of Harker: Harmony in humanity
“Something I took away from baseball is that there's always the opportunity to bounce back when things don't go particularly right. Even the best hitters only go one for three, so being able to push through that is one of the most important parts of the game. Being able to identify what goes wrong and learning from that is important to being able to find success in the future," Mark Hu ('22) said.
Humans of Harker: The perfect pitch
Humans of Harker: Perseverance on par
Humans of Harker: Perseverance on par
It's been obviously rough, turning on the news and seeing another death, seeing another acquittal every single time … but, ‘How much can I do?’ is the question I'm asking myself. ‘How much can I help, and what impact can I have?’” Brian Pinkston ('21) said.
Humans of Harker: For the future and the present
“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.
Humans of Harker: Leading with DECA-cation
Class of 2021: Humans of Harker compilation, part three
Class of 2021: Humans of Harker compilation, part three
“I feel really good about myself when I'm relaxed and enjoying the world. There’s so much to learn about the world and so many ways to do so," Daniel Wang ('21) said.
Humans of Harker: Mapping the unknown
"I'm the person that always has a plan for everything. And then I have backups for the plan, and I have backups for the backups," Nicole Chen ('19) said.
Humans of Harker: Calendars for a cause
"I don’t ever intend on letting the internal love of life that I have leave me. As I grow up and I maintain my love for the random things I do, I know I’ll be happy– and hopefully people around me will be, as well," Mathew Mammen ('19) said.
Humans of Harker: Jack of all trades, master of fun
Humans of Harker: To dance, to feel
Humans of Harker: To dance, to feel
"The more serious side, people will never see. You'll never see who's behind one of these websites that people may be using," Neil Ramaswamy (12) said. "Several freshmen have approached me like, 'hey, you're the really funny guy at school meeting' and I'm like 'hey, yeah, nice to meet you' and at the same time they might be using an application that I've written not knowing that it's me. I kind of get that personal satisfaction knowing that there is a serious side to me, you just don't know about it."
Humans of Harker: Dueling with duality
Humans of Harker: Humanity in art
Humans of Harker: Humanity in art
“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.
Humans of Harker: Neymika Jain finds balance in life
“A lot of the time, when I’m out at nail salons, nailers ask me if I‘m Vietnamese. I say yes, but they say that I don’t speak the language and have never been back to Vietnamese, so am I really? I always felt disconnected, like I would be Vietnamese-American but never Vietnamese. When I went to Vietnam for the first time, it brought me closer to my culture. I realized I shouldn’t view myself as a different. I have to see Vietnamese-American and Vietnamese as one and the same," Haley Tran (12) said.
Humans of Harker: Haley Tran values her cultural identity
“One time, I was hiking up this giant off-trail path, and this is going to make me sound like a complete hippy, but what I was thinking at the moment was that every single tree out there must have had some sort of backstory. Even when I was walking to Shah, there was this tree right next to the building, and I was like, ‘Maybe this tree had a lot of other tree friends, but then this building came up and they had to get cut down.’ That made me pretty sad. So, when I was coming up with backstories for trees, it reminded me of my childlike innocence of playing pretend or playing with my stuffed animals because I thought my imagination would never run as wild as it once did. But, this experience made me feel happy because it’s something that I’ve lost, and I feel like I gained some of it back," Aashish Jain (12) said.
Humans of Harker: Aashish Jain finds inspiration in painting through watching Bob Ross videos
“For me, robotics has always been a great way to learn about how to build things and how things work. Honestly, that is the reason why I love robotics. When you see everything working, you look at it and say 'I helped make this happen,' which is really really gratifying," Andrew Tierno (12) said.
Humans of Harker: Andrew Tierno reflects on his passion for robotics
“A lot of being a choreographer is about digging deep, understanding, and finding out which event leads to the next, which is basically what science is. You would take a circuit and break it apart to understand each of the components, and you would do that to a song,” Sneha Bhetanabhotla (‘17) said.
Humans of Harker: Sneha Bhetanabhotla learns to connect robotics and dance
“I can be serious, and I care a lot about a lot of things, but I also just like having fun and people feeling comfortable being their true selves,” Isabella Spradlin (12) said. “You don't have to be one-sided — you can have different sides of your personality, and different moods.”
Humans of Harker: Isabella Spradlin gleans insight from sisterhood
“This is like a melting pot of Cupertino, Lynbrook, Saratoga, some people from De Anza, so you meet all kinds of people,” Rahul Mehta (12) said. “Half the time I’m not even playing with my friends, so I’m playing with random people. You start off in the beginning a bit wary of each other, and then by end you’re playing like they’re your friends. It’s kind of gradual. Like after a really cool play, you’ll high five each other, and that’s how it all begins.”
Humans of Harker: Rahul Mehta befriends others through banter
"People are always debating, you know, ‘should I go up to a higher weight or not?’ And I’ll just yell, ‘do it, you won’t,’" Tiffany Shou (12) said. "And then, you know, it’s like that challenge, and so it always pushes them pick that higher weight, and then they can accomplish it, so it’s even more gratifying."
Humans of Harker Video: Tiffany Shou pushes her limits in the weight room
“First, I start at my house,” Sparsh Chauhan (12) said. “Then, I turn on Saratoga, and it’s always crowded with traffic and stuff. That’s when I’m setting the music, checking the tire pressure, the gas. After downtown, the road gets smooth, which is when I put the windows down. I go all the way down until there’s a dip and then I go back. Even when I have stuff to do, I drive that same route every day. I don’t have to take directions. I know all the traffic times; I know exactly where I’m going.”
Humans of Harker: Sparsh Chauhan takes pride in his work
“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.”
Humans of Harker: Angel Cervantes chases his goals
“[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.
Humans of Harker: Learning to fall
“You just have to go for it. You think, 'In the future, if I think back and regret it, is that how I want to end up — or would I rather just try something and see what happens?' Usually, it turns out well,” Montek Kalsi (’20) said. 
Humans of Harker: All fun and games
“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.
Humans of Harker: Leadership and love
Humans of Harker: Grit and grind
Humans of Harker: Grit and grind
Humans of Harker: Artistic nonconformity
Humans of Harker: Artistic nonconformity
The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila
The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila
Although the USC Mind Challenge was created with the intent of raising funds and awareness, in reality, it did little to combat mental health stigma. “For these types of challenges, it’s important to take actual action,” junior Amishi Gupta said. “Out of the people that were informed, maybe 10% of them donated towards the cause, but the other 90% of videos can be a little performative.”

USC Speak Your Mind Challenge floods Instagram feeds, raises little awareness

by Chelsea Xie, A&E/Lifestyle Editor • May 23, 2025

During a class break, sophomore Ryan Pham opens his phone and clicks into his friend’s Instagram story. “Thank you for nominating me…” With a sigh of annoyance, he watches the video of his classmate...

Anna Luo launched her jewelry brand Analemma8 to merge spirituality and beauty. "The goal of our brand is that when people wear our accessories, they not only look good, but they are also given confidence and spiritual inspiration," Luo said.

So you wanna be a jewelry business owner?

by Tiffany Zhu, Winged Post Editor-in-Chief • May 21, 2025

Fiery orange-red carnelian stones and shimmering labradorite flowers dangle from a bright gold chain. Smooth purple Brazil super seven stones laced with golden citrine shape an elegant bracelet, and black...

How to make matcha

How to make matcha

by Charlize Wang and Young Min • May 12, 2025

Young baristas stir up success behind the counter

Young baristas stir up success behind the counter

by Disha Gupta, Humans of Harker Editor-in-Chief • May 6, 2025

Most teens stroll into cafés and juice bars with earbuds in and phones out, scanning the menu for something sweet to sip between classes. But behind the counter, it’s often students of a similar age...

Apps like Clearspace focus on setting limits on screen time, adding a layer of intentionality to device usage. When opening an app blocked by Clearspace, users first receive a message to breathe in and out for up to fifteen seconds so that they can reevaluate whether they want to use the app or not.

Productivity apps boost student focus

by Suhani Gupta, Aquila Managing Editor • May 2, 2025

In the hectic cycle of high school life, students like sophomore Joyce Zhang struggle to find time to complete all of their work. This issue arises from multiple compounding factors, including scheduling...

An Honest Biscuits employee builds a sandwich. For those exploring Pike Place Market and seeking a satisfying meal with a touch of homemade comfort, Honest Biscuits delivers.

Tasty Tidbits: Honest Biscuits offers vibrant flavors, buttery warmth

by Tiffany Zhu and Ashley Mo • April 26, 2025

SEATTLE — Bordered by the Pacific Ocean, Honest Biscuits offers a view that parallels the excellence of its food. Upon entering, customers are greeted by smiling staff members and the rich aroma of caramelized...

So you wanna be a pastry chef?

So you wanna be a pastry chef?

by Disha Gupta, A&E/Lifestyle Editor • March 29, 2025

Stepping into chocolatier and pastry chef Lisa Allen’s apartment, one might catch her in the middle of transforming her living room into a pastry workshop. Furniture is pushed aside, and the aroma...

Lanzl lays on the ground next to a group of meerkats. Lanzl has traveled to Africa several times to visit with SAFE Worldwide’s partner groups and aid in conservation efforts.

So you wanna be a wildlife conservationist?

by Chelsea Xie, Assistant News Editor • March 25, 2025

Linda Lanzl sits motionless among the dense greenery as a mountain gorilla slowly approaches her. She remains completely motionless among the dense flora and slowly extends her arm towards the creature....

Vinay Reddy advises former President Biden on a speech. “It doesn't matter who you're writing for,” Reddy said. “The real, most important thing is [that] you understand that person."

So you wanna be a speech writer?

by Samaara Patil, TALON Assistant Photo Editor • March 8, 2025

As soon as Director of the Office of Speech Writing Vinay Reddy arrives at his office, the room buzzes with energy. The team is excited for the annual Diwali White House celebration being hosted later...

Planets follow predictable patterns of movement across the sky, but can only be seen at certain times of the year depending on factors like the earth’s rotation and the planets’ relative location around the sun. Uranus and Saturn require a telescope, but Venus, Jupiter and Mars are fairly easy to spot with the naked eye, even in light-polluted areas.

Five steps to see the universe

by Claire Tian, Assistant STEM Editor • March 4, 2025

In the hustle of everyday life, stargazing offers a source of tranquility. It’s not necessary to invest in telescopes or spend years studying astronomy either. Even for complete amateurs, searching the...

Gen Z refreshes Y2K fashion trend

Gen Z refreshes Y2K fashion trend

by Suhani Gupta and Eva Cheng • March 1, 2025

More than 20 years after the Y2K panic, a cornerstone of the era has arisen once more. Bright, bold colors, low-rise flares, tracksuits and chunky sneakers fill the shelves of popular clothing stores...

When selecting courses, aim for a mix of rigor and personal interest. Find a balance that allows you to thrive.

Navigating course selection at Harker: Advice for rising sophomores, juniors and seniors

by Disha Gupta, A&E/Lifestyle Editor • February 7, 2025

Choosing the right courses at Harker is a high-stakes balancing act. Each year of high school presents its unique opportunities and challenges, and it’s crucial to strategize wisely. There is a delicate...

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