The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

Instead of buying clothes at a store, I want to transition to all my clothes being bought secondhand, which I’m slowly working on, and I would just want to adopt daily practices, because sometimes I still use those disposable cups because I leave my water bottle at random places, Maya Kumar (12) said. I’m definitely that person at the grocery store who might have a bunch of things in my hand but will refuse to get a bag, and it’s slightly embarrassing because I’m about to drop everything, but I’m trying to stay true to my values to the extent that it’s reasonable at this point in my life.

Humans of Harker: Maya Kumar prioritizes helping the environment––and anyone else she can

by Sahana Srinivasan, Winged Post Editor-in-Chief June 5, 2018

Senior Maya Kumar’s interest in helping the environment––and studying environmental engineering––began, in some ways, with John Oliver. “One episode [of Last Week Tonight] that really struck...

“I like to be a very relaxed guy, and I dont let stress get to the better of me,” Rohit Shah (12) said. “Soccer is just there for me to kind of relieve tension and make me happy again. Soccer feels like somewhere where I can just be who I am and not worry about what other people think of me.”

Humans of Harker: Rohit Shah finds his place on the soccer field

by Karina Chen, Reporter June 3, 2018

Rohit Shah (12) vigorously dribbles the soccer ball through the sea of players, racing to his opponent’s goal. He takes a final kick, and the soccer ball shoots through the goalie and swiftly into the...

For the longest time, a really big fear that I had is that there would just be something in our general education curriculum that was wrong that weve always been taught that way and I will just never know it was wrong for as long as I live and for my entire life I would just never know that what we learned was wrong, Serena Lu (12) said. And this has happened for a lot of the things Ive learned. I guess I hope that if at least one of my long winded rants in some class has ever changed someones mind, I guess thatd be enough.

Humans of Harker: Serena Lu strives to uncover truth

by Kathy Fang, Photo Editor June 2, 2018

Thanksgiving—what images and memories does that holiday bring to mind? Pilgrims, perhaps, or turkey stickers and red paper leaves. Maybe even snippets of a history lecture on British relations with Native...

“I like making my art because its a method of expressing yourself, Eric Andrus (12) said. Being that I was quiet kid for the first 15 years of my life, art was a way I could speak. It was almost like a language to me. Because I am taking AP Studio Art, we have to do a concentration on our works, which is when there is a theme behind all the pieces. My theme is rhythmic motion, which represents a passage of time, so like growth and decay. Through time, relationships are formed and they grow and then they decay. Through all the challenges in life that I have been faced with, I’ve formed relationships and others have been broken, but I think the overall theme that is there is always something there and there is always something to be happy about.

Humans of Harker: Eric Andrus chronicles relationships through art

by Krishna Bheda and Reporter May 30, 2018

Every Sunday, Eric Andrus (12) can be found working at Lutticken’s, a sandwich shop located in Menlo Park. There, he spends his time making Tuna and Chicken Salad sandwiches, making drinks, cleaning,...

My motivation to do research has always been more of heres a field that Im interested in, lets tackle that and take it to its greatest extent, rather than heres a problem I want to solve for the millions of people whose lives well save, Rajiv Movva (12) said. I think the impacts of your research are more of a positive byproduct than the main motivation for me. For me, it was always just trying to find an answer.

Humans of Harker Video: Rajiv Movva strives for answers

by Nerine Uyanik, Humans of Harker Videographer May 29, 2018

This is the seventh installment of the Humans of Harker 2018 video series. Through this project, the Harker journalism program aims to tell the story of the senior class, one profile at a time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N32ad2wEK84

I started doing my eyebrows at the tail end of my sophomore year and that was where I started figuring out that what people think doesn’t really matter all that much, Mona Lee (12) said. Because everyone has a different idea of what your eyebrows should look like, who you should be, what you should be like, what you should look like. I kind of realized that at the end of the day I realized it doesn’t matter; the only opinion that matters is your own.

Humans of Harker: Mona Lee applies makeup and embraces confident self-expression

by Sahana Srinivasan, Winged Post Editor-in-Chief May 29, 2018

Mona Lee (12) owns 50 lipsticks. But she only puts any of them on after lunch. She fills in her eyebrows by 9:30 a.m., in passing period, in class or in the car, for five minutes. Winged eyeliner occasionally...

Every time I step on stage, I get this feeling where I just never want to stop dancing, so I think that just reminds me of how badly I want to become a professional, Anastasia Ana Cheplyansky (12) said.

Humans of Harker Video: Anastasia Cheplyansky balances athletics and artistry

by Heidi Zhang & Melissa Kwan May 28, 2018

This is the sixth installment of the Humans of Harker 2018 video series. Through this project, the Harker journalism program aims to tell the story of the senior class, one profile at a time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuOq5W0yOck

“One time, I just went over to [my friend]s house,” Rishi Iyer (12) said. “I asked him, What do you want to do? and he was like, Lets just get in the car and drive around and explore.’ We went into downtown Saratoga, and we took a turn on some random road that looked pretty steep, and we went along it for thirty minutes, and it became this really narrow one lane road going up the mountain, and we eventually just made our way up the mountain, just exploring all these little side roads until we eventually found this little clearing with this amazing view of the entire Bay Area. It was so surreal, just going from being in the house, saying, Lets just find something and just discovering this, just by messing around.

Humans of Harker: Rishi Iyer positions himself in the space between categories

by Melissa Kwan, Humans of Harker Managing Editor May 28, 2018

Rishi Iyer (12) handles obstacles in stride, choosing to see them as humorous “L’s” in the win-loss record of life. "Say some major setback happens in life, or you fail a test, or you get in a...

Part of the reason I play music is to have some sort of human connection — to have an audience and be able to say something through the music, Andrew Semenza (12) said. Thats of foremost importance to me — the ability to be able to affect an emotional change in someone through music. And you know, if someone walks in to the concert hall and doesnt leave a different person, I think thats a failure of a performer.

Humans of Harker Video: Andrew Semenza charts his travels through the musical landscape

by Nerine Uyanik & Melissa Kwan May 27, 2018

This is the fifth installment of the Humans of Harker 2018 video series. Through this project, the Harker journalism program aims to tell the story of the senior class, one profile at a time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNjkCnQzsFI

“I really identify with Santa Claus from the movie the Rise of the Guardians, Joanna Lin (12) said. His center, which is what they are trying to preserve in children and what caused them to become a guardian, is wonder. Thats kind of how I feel about the world. This summer I had a daily drive to Santa Cruz, and I was just so captivated by the fog in the redwood trees. It was so beautiful, and Im so in awe of all the things it can do. And, because children are naturally this way before they grow up, I want to work with them to preserve a part of me and help them stay that way for a little longer.”

Humans of Harker: Joanna Lin plays the role of “mom friend”

by Kaitlin Hsu, Winged Post Editor-in-Chief May 23, 2018

Joanna Lin (12) is the quintessential “mom friend”. She frequently drives people home in her light blue minivan, worries that they’ll catch colds if they go to sleep with wet hair and gently chastises...

Why wouldnt you like climbing trees? Super dangerous? Cmon. Sure its dangerous, but unless you’re going to break your arm or leg you’re not going to die. Theres a possibility that it can happen, but thats just the fun of it. Youre not going to be able to climb trees your entire life, so you might as well do it now, Shikhar Solanki (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Shikhar Solanki rises to the competition

by Vijay Bharadwaj, Winged Post News Editor May 22, 2018

“I literally imagine myself as a Greek wrestler all the way back in Ancient Greece, and I think to myself I’m wrestling for rations of food and that I haven’t eaten in a long time, so I need to win...

I knew that something was wrong with my shoulder because it was bothering me, but eventually it never went away, so I went the whole season through it. I was battling this pain, Nate Kelly (12) said. At the same time, we were winning a bunch of games and had this kind of historic season, and that’s something I didn’t really want to miss out on. That was my incentive to keep going; that kept my adrenaline pumping, the fact that we were winning a lot in all these games. Quite honestly, I thought it would affect me, but I guess I overcame it. It hurt, but I battled through it, and I dealt with the pain afterwards.”

Humans of Harker: Nate Kelly perseveres on and off the field

by Nilisha Baid, Reporter May 21, 2018

Nate Kelly’s (12) enthusiasm for athletics originates from his “big sports family.” “It doesn’t really matter what kind of sport it is, as long as it is a sport, there’s something that my...

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