The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila
“We're in a world where we're very focused on ourselves and our own successes. It’s important to be able to stop and consider yourself in different ways. That's performing: considering yourself in different situations and being able to take that pause and breathe. You're helping yourself and you're serving others," senior Bhavya Srinivasan said.
Humans of Harker: Building the script for community
Humans of Harker: Crafting with care
Humans of Harker: Crafting with care
Humans of Harker: Scoring with strategy
Humans of Harker: Scoring with strategy
Humans of Harker: Nets and networks
Humans of Harker: Nets and networks
Humans of Harker: Painting with purpose
Humans of Harker: Painting with purpose
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
A freshly baked batch of lemon bars sits in a tray with parchment paper. Follow along with this lemon bar recipe that is perfect for the fall.

When life gives you lemons, make lemon bars for the fall

by Anika Mani, Talon Co-Editor-in-Chief • October 10, 2021

Looking for a way to use leftover summer lemons? Lemon bars are the perfect solution! The bars take about an hour to make, and they are a perfect treat for an afterschool snack, dessert or even sweet breakfast. Find...

Dr. Sue McNeill-Bindon takes a walk with her rescue dog Honey. McNeill-Bindon found the dog 12 years ago at the dump and nursed her back to health.

So you wanna be an animal shelter worker?

by Medha Yarlagadda, Reporter • October 10, 2021

When Dr. Sue McNeill-Bindon first found her dog Honey at the dump, the dog was sick and unfamiliar to humans and interaction. It took months before anyone could touch her, making it difficult to treat...

Upper school Intro to Journalism teacher Whitney Huang sits at her desk in the back room of the journalism classroom, holding her "Harker Journalism" mug. Huang, a 2008 alumna and Harker "lifer," returned to Harker due to her deep connection to the school's culture and environment.

Meet your teacher: A return to Harker, 20 years later

by Sarah Mohammed, Features Editor • October 3, 2021

Thumbing a photograph from 2000, new upper school journalism teacher and Harker alumna Whitney Huang (‘08) laughs with upper school activities director Kerry Enzensperger, recalling fondly each of their...

Explore the variety of jean styles that students love and wear around campus as well as the great ripped versus unripped jeans controversy. 

Denim for days: Jeans hit the campus catwalk!

by Trisha Iyer, Reporter • September 28, 2021

Denim has come a long way from being the sturdy pant material of choice for gold miners in the mid-eighteenth century. The fabric is now so pervasive that not wearing denim is an identifying personality...

Samvita Gautham (11) dances with a partner during one of the bonding activities. After upper school participants linked arms and danced to music, they turned around and shared their answers to a prompting question introduced by a Challenge Day facilitator.

Strength in community: Challenge Day embraces growth with return to in-person format

by Anika Maji and Alena Suleiman • September 25, 2021

“I love my neighbor, especially the ones who… go to Harker!” A commotion fills the Blackford gym as all students and faculty leap up from their seats and jog to an empty chair across the room....

Members of the QAnon disinformation committee vote to hold a discussion on Saturday between 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Harker Model UN held the Model UN Kickoff in Shah Hall to both educate members about Model UN and simulate a real Model UN conference.

Diplomatic debate: Model UN inspires collaboration with kickoff event

by Selina Xu, Dilsher Dhaliwal • September 24, 2021

harkeraquila · Aquila Audible of "Diplomatic debate: Model UN inspires collaboration with kickoff event" Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the doors of Model UN? Or how members develop...

Link Crew members Melody Yazdi (12) and Rigo Gonzales (11) demonstrate how to play the game “Zip, zap, zop" with Intro to Journalism teacher Whitney Huang's freshman advisory on Sept. 1. Link Crew members visit assigned freshmen advisories once a month to relay advice, play activities and answer questions.

Bridging the gap: Link Crew leads freshmen, step by step

by Esha Gohil and Anika Maji • September 22, 2021

Have you ever wondered how freshmen learn their way around campus? How do they get to class on time, after over a year of online learning, no less? Following a global pandemic and classes over Zoom,...

The American and Californian flag fly over the San José Fire Department Station 21 on Sept. 19. Out of the 415 emergency service workers who died on Sept 11., 343 were firefighters according to the New York City Fire Department.

Remembering 9/11, 20 years later

by Ananya Sriram, Nicole Tian, and Alysa Suleiman • September 12, 2021

“Some things you just remember, [and] they stop you in your tracks,” upper school history teacher Karen Haley said. On a couch in her home in Dallas, Texas, Haley, a retired U.S. Army captain, sat...

Students stand in the lunch line trailing into the quad on Aug. 23. Due to Harker’s COVID-19 practices in trying to limit student numbers indoors, faculty have been trying to keep the line inside as short as possible, leading to longer lines outside.

Campus crowding: Did longer lines lead to seating shortage?

by Sally Zhu, A&E and Lifestyle Editor • September 10, 2021

During the first weeks of school, students have crowded in lunch lines stretching from Manzanita all the way to the Quad, and the traffic has been worse, with students showing up late to class. The crowding...

Students and faculty fall fashion bring new shopping and styles to this school year. Some have explored thrifting and trends from social media.

Fall fashion: Rise in the realm of thrifting

by Sally Zhu, A&E and Lifestyle Editor • September 7, 2021

Fashion, by definition ever-changing and transitory, inevitably continues to evolve in the form of trends or individual styles. After more than a year of shelter-in-place, thrifting and secondhand shopping,...

The Harker upper school welcomes new faculty members this year. Among them are the new head of school, the new Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, an athletics trainer and nine new teachers.

New faculty faces join upper school community

by Michelle Liu and Mark Hu • August 31, 2021

This year, Harker will be welcoming 10 faculty members to the upper school community. As the school transitions back into in-person learning, new faculty members Caren Furtado, Whitney Huang, Bianca Cung,...

Harker alumnus and bestselling author Andrew Shvarts (‘03) poses with his most recent fiction publication, “It Ends in Fire,” a featured Recreate Reading book for the 2022 school year. Shvarts has had a fascination with storytelling from a young age, eventually leading to his current career as an author.

So you wanna be a fantasy author?

by Sarah Mohammed and Lavanya Subramanian • August 29, 2021

“Being a hero doesn't mean getting rewards or praise. Being a hero means suffering so other people don't have to. Being a hero means pain,” Andrew Shvarts (‘03) writes in the final book of his fantasy...

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