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
“Every time I jump into a pool, I just seem to lose all of my stress and worries. Nothing bothers me, and I’m able to focus all of my energy on water polo. Over the past four years, I’ve discovered a strange parallel between water polo and my interest in Latin and philosophy. Playing water polo allows me to lose myself in a physical way, while reading Latin and learning about philosophical ideas and theories encourages me to lose myself in thought," Arnav Tandon (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Arnav Tandon trains physically in water polo and mentally in Latin and philosophy

by Alex Wang, Sports Editor • December 26, 2016

Arnav Tandon (12) displays his physical prowess in the pool while playing water polo, but also shows off his mental savoir faire while leading discussions in Philosophy Club and participating in Latin-related...

“I have many different passions, but there's always a difference between loving things. I do love food, but then I also love Japanese. With Japanese, I can definitely see myself with a future, but with food, I'm not going to become a world class chef. I just love food. I love to eat it and experience all the different varieties and cultures, but with other things I have this passion that will play a huge part in my future. There's different kinds of loves," Maile Chung (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Maile Chung tackles life with a positive attitude

by Kaitlin Hsu, Wingspan Editor-in-Chief • December 24, 2016

Outside the weight room, Maile Chung (12) prepares for an afternoon workout, shuffling through her duffel bag for Nike socks and a hair tie. Her short stature belies a bubbly energy that seems to infect...

“You should always try your best. Don't let other people's standards define you. I truly believe there's no life that's better than yours. At the end of the day, it's not what cards you get, it's how you play your cards, so you should trust your intuition, do your part and hope things work out. Even if things don’t work out there’s always another opportunity for everything," Karan Walia (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Karan Walia develops an interest for economics

by Vijay Bharadwaj, Opinion Editor • December 23, 2016

By the time Karan Walia (12) took a one-semester economics class in his sophomore year, he knew he wanted a career in finance. But he didn’t start the class like most others. “When I started economics,...

“[I wish people cared about] not worrying so much. Everyone seems to worry so much, here at our school especially. I wish people would see the big picture sometimes. It seems that everyone has their track to be honest," Justin Culpepper (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Justin Culpepper challenges himself with swimming

by Maya Kumar, Winged Post Features Editor • December 22, 2016

When Justin Culpepper (12) first joined the swim team, he aimed to be the fastest swimmer there. But along his path to become the best, he gained more than just speed and skill: he found a team, where...

"Rather than an experience, what defines me is that I grew up in the Bay Area. It's just such a formative area to grow up in; you'll just understand the world at a different level than you will growing up anywhere else, especially going to Harker too. I've been at Harker for 12 years now, and I think it's really made me a different person than I would be growing up anywhere else. I'm not saying that's a good or bad thing, but it's just formative for me," Rishab Gargeya (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Rishab Gargeya harnesses a love for computer science

by Rose Guan, Winged Post Copy Editor • December 21, 2016

Rishab Gargeya (12) aims to help solve real-world problems using his wide range of work in computer science. “I do a lot of computer science work. I'm pretty passionate about coding,” Rishab said....

Anika Jain (12) puts dough in a muffin tin as she prepares to bake a batch of chocolate chip muffins.

Humans of Harker: Anika Jain relates baking hobby to debate

by Sofie Kassaras, Reporter • December 20, 2016

Right or wrong, sure or unsure, Anika Jain (12) projects confidence when she debates. “My strategy is that instead of just standing there and being unconfident, it’s better to be confident and wrong,”...

“I like being able to communicate. I like having it when people understand me better in their native language. I don't know how to explain that," Hazal Gurcan (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Hazal Gurcan learns languages to communicate with others

by Zachary Hoffman, Multimedia Editor • December 19, 2016

Onstage, underneath lights and in costume, Hazal Gurcan uses dance and the movement of her body to impart emotion to her audience. Offstage, she utilizes languages to connect with others. “I really...

Never fear? Students reveal stories behind phobias

Never fear? Students reveal stories behind phobias

by Sahana Srinivasan, Winged Post Managing Editor • December 19, 2016

Emilie Sanche (10) did not always have a phobia of needles. When she was younger, she would sometimes watch the needle being inserted to her arm during blood tests. She still did have a negative experience...

“When I see something cool that I like, I just think, ‘that will be really awesome to draw,’ and I'll try to draw it. I usually don't end up with what I started with, but that's the beauty of drawing; you can start with a little seed of an idea, and you can branch to whatever you want," Michael Auld (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Michael Auld uses art to relieve stress

by Laura Wu, TALON Co-Business Editor • December 18, 2016

As a child, Michael Auld (12) took some art classes in elementary school but never fully enjoyed them. “I didn't like [the classes] that much because I was doing a lot of copying, and I drifted away...

“Even though the fall was terrifying, I have a deeper sense of my own strength than ever before. Though I may no longer be a hurdler in the literal sense, the principles of the hurdler continue to guide me. The best part is that I’m way less afraid of the obstacles that will inevitably rise before me, because breaking the biggest hardest bone in my body didn’t break me. I’m still a hurdler," Winnie Li (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Winnie Li conquers life’s hurdles

by Gloria Guo, TALON Academics Editor • December 16, 2016

Drawing in a puff of air, Winnie Li (12) presses her fingertips to the rutty rubber track and sets her spike-adorned feet into the blocks. As the sound of a gunshot pierces her ears, Winnie charges towards...

"A long term goal of mine is to leave some sort of impact. I’d really like to just leave something behind that will benefit other people. I want to be able to create some sort of product or invent something and then, years down the road, see people using it," David Zhu (12) said.

Humans of Harker: David Zhu strives to positively impact his community

by Maya Valluru, News Editor • December 15, 2016

David Zhu’s love for working as a member of student council stems from his passion to meet the humans of his school. From speaking with new freshmen to reconnecting with peers in his class, he finds...

“It was the final penalty kick and my teammate went up to take it and when she scored, the entire team rushed onto the field,” Joelle Anderson (12) said.” “I can’t even describe the emotions I was feeling at the time. It was just amazing to win such a big tournament, it was like the biggest tournament in Spain and it was just so excited and shocked," Joelle Anderson (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Joelle Anderson uses soccer to relieve stress

by Julia Amick, TALON Asst. Photo Editor • December 14, 2016

Ever since she started at a young age, playing club soccer as given Joelle an outlet to forget about the daily pressures of high school. “Since I was young, it’s always been the thing I can count...

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