The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila
Campus leadership representatives gather for the year's first CLC Town Hall. Despite an audience of 5, student leaders viewed the Town Hall as an important first step for complete transparency.
Campus Leadership Coalition unites for first town hall meeting
Samaara Patil (11) dances in the Vegas-themed Aux Gym during the Homecoming dance. Students submitted song requests through a Google Form prior to the event.
Students celebrate a night of music at annual homecoming dance
Honor council representatives Linda Zeng (12) and Suhana Bhandare (12) share a brief overview about Honor Week. Each day next week will be focused on emphasizing a value from the Honor Code.
School Meeting 10/20: GSA, HELM Theme reveal and Campus Life Coalition Town Hall
LALC Vice President of External Affairs Raeanne Li (11) explains the International Phonetic Alphabet to attendees. "We decided to have more fun topics this year instead of just talking about the same things every year so our older members can also [enjoy],” Raeanne said.
Club Corner: Students learn to pronounce non-English words at Language and Linguistics Club Workshop
Chinese National Honors Society president Grace Fu hands a moon cake to a student. Moon cakes are widely consumed on Mid Autumn Festival and symbolize fullness and unity.
National Chinese Honors Society brings Mid-Autumn Festival culture to campus
Humans of Harker: Multi-disciplined, multi-dimensional
Humans of Harker: Multi-disciplined, multi-dimensional
Humans of Harker: Continuous and differentiable
Humans of Harker: Continuous and differentiable
Humans of Harker: Power in profiles
Humans of Harker: Power in profiles
Humans of Harker: Widening the aperture
Humans of Harker: Widening the aperture
Humans of Harker: Sharing stories, striking serves
Humans of Harker: Sharing stories, striking serves
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
“[My dad] says life is a dot. Everyone is a small speck on the earth, so you have to make your dot as prominent as possible. You have to do everything you can to impact others and yourself while you live," Kendall Ka (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Kendall Ka expresses herself through film

by Megan Cardosi, TALON Sports Editor • January 16, 2017

As a filmmaker and a storyteller, Kendall Ka (12) finds herself constantly looking into the future. “I can envision where I want to be in five years,” Kendall said. “I picture myself winning awards...

“One thing that is important to me when I do something is to actually be able to see if it gets results, so I like starting from nothing and then over time seeing the robot get built until the finished product. We actually keep a time-lapse of it, which is something I enjoy watching when it's done,” Karthik Sundaram (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Karthik Sundaram dedicates time in the robotics lab

by Nerine Uyanik, Reporter • January 15, 2017

Joining robotics opened many doors for Karthik Sundaram (12). It aided him in his path towards discovering his passion, making new friends and eventually finding volunteer work in a similar field. Karthik...

“[Acting gives you] a chance to be not who you are. When you are a character, no one is looking at you the way they do in real life,” she said. “It’s cool to have an effect on the audience and to grow from that," Mia Giammona (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Mia Giammona develops confidence through performing arts

by Natasha Maniar, Reporter • January 14, 2017

Mia Giammona (12) lives by the motto “Fortune favors the bold,” and believes that her self-confident nature has benefitted her performing arts career and mentoring activities as well as her willingness...

Surrounding myself with people who have such great leadership skills, such great confidence, people who are so smart, made me want to work hard. They all inspired me to grow. And I did grow. That person who sits in the corner—that’s not who I am anymore," Ankita Uppugunduri (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Ankita Uppugunduri gains confidence through business

by Prameela Kottapalli, Winged Post Asst. Features Editor • January 13, 2017

Ankita Uppugunduri (12) entered high school as a reserved freshman, uncertain of what path she would pursue. But when she met the DECA officers—student leaders who exuded confidence and supported their...

“Using programming, I can tell [computers] what to do with their ridiculous brain power. Part of why I enjoy computer science is because of those moments where I go, ‘Oh man, I figured out the answer!’ whenever I solve whatever problem I’ve been trying to solve. There’s that little epiphany I get, and I think that’s the best feeling,” James He (12) said.

Humans of Harker: James He problem-solves using computer science

by Helen Yang, Reporter • January 12, 2017

For James He (12), computer science is a passion, a hobby, and a way to connect with others. “There’s that atmosphere you get when people are working together on this one problem,” he said. “Part...

“I like that fact that [public forum debate] is based on the community because anyone can listen in on a public forum round and understand what is happening. We get judged by judges who are parents, teachers, or anyone from your community. I like the fact that it is so universal and inclusive," Joyce Huang (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Joyce Huang believes in the power of education

by Rashmi Iyer, Reporter • January 11, 2017

When Joyce Huang (12) tried speech and debate for the first time in sixth grade, she hated it. But ever since she specialized in solely debate in seventh grade, it gradually became one of her greatest...

“[Meditation] has definitely affected me in a very positive way. I remember a couple years ago, before I started doing this I used to be very tense about everything and worrisome, and I wasn't very good with managing my time. After I started this I get into everything with a better mindset and much more calm and empty mind," Surabhi Rao (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Surabhi Rao meditates to alleviate stress

by Eleanor Xiao, TALON Student Life Editor • January 10, 2017

4:30 a.m. While the world around her is asleep, senior Surabhi Rao’s alarm rings. She follows the usual routine of washing her face and brushing her teeth. Then, she sits down, closes her eyes and meditates. “It...

Golden Globes 2017: Best looks on the red carpet

Golden Globes 2017: Best looks on the red carpet

by Prameela Kottapalli, Winged Post Asst. Features Editor • January 10, 2017

Hailee Steinfeld       A first-time nominee for her performance in the comedy “The Edge of Seventeen,” actress- singer Hailee Steinfeld dazzled onlookers with a lavender-hued...

“I think changing my last name made it easier in life. Not like school, because I don’t really care; I’m cool with all kinds of jokes in that sort of sense. But it’s easier, because if you grow up with the last name ‘Hussein,’ then it’s harder [in] airports and whatever; that was the case for my dad, so basically as a kid I was like: ‘I don’t want to be like that,’ so that’s why I changed my last name," Emaad Raghib (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Emaad Raghib finds the humor in situations

by Nicole Chen and Anthony Xu • January 9, 2017

Joker. Wisecracker. Whatever the word, Emaad Raghib (12) has gained a reputation over the years for making people laugh. “My sense of humor is pretty dark, with a little twist to it. I think that's...

“You know how everyone knows me as really excited, and always really happy all the time—and that's true—but it's because of other people that I'm around. When I'm around large groups of people, I just can't help but be excited all the time. After surgery, that was the most time I've ever spent alone… that was a time of self reflection I guess. Just that year, I realized that it was really easy for the happiest people to get really sad," Lindsey Trinh (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Lindsey Trinh’s bright personality inspires others

by Melissa Kwan, TALON Seniors Editor • January 8, 2017

Whether it’s singing along to the radio or breaking into dance during volleyball practice, Lindsey Trinh (12) radiates genuine enthusiasm. When she walks, her loose braid swings from side to side, exposing...

Each concussion damages neural pathways in the brain. From being kneed in the head underwater to a hard knock during football practice, sports concussions are on the rise. With 1.6 to 3.8 million concussions per year, soccer leads with most concussions for women, while football leads for most in men.

Hard Hits: Concussions on the Rise

by Anjay Saklecha, Aquila Features Editor • January 8, 2017

“I got kneed to the head. The opponent was coming for me and he jumped as I was going for the tackle. It didn’t go as I planned and it came straight to my head… At first I got up and I felt perfectly...

Behind the Statistics: Students stories of survival in Silicon Valley

Behind the Statistics: Students stories of survival in Silicon Valley

by Kshithija Mulam, Meilan Steimle, and Kaitlin Hsu • January 8, 2017

Editor’s Note: I would like to express my gratitude for the students and alumni who decided to share their stories in this piece. Mental health is a deeply personal topic, and it takes more than a little...

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