The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila
Humans of Harker: Leading with every lesson
Humans of Harker: Leading with every lesson
“For me, discipline can only happen when I try the things that I really like. Since I like basketball and I like guitar, I'm willing to contribute to the discipline. It's not really discipline at that point — it's passion," senior Advay Monga said.
Humans of Harker: Dribble and drive
“Working on Roobi has taught me how to bounce back from failures, and that problems need to be addressed one bit at a time because you can't just tackle huge goals. I learned to not be afraid of failure because every failure is a step towards success. I try not to look back and wish I could change something because I can't. It's the past. Instead, I look forward," senior Daniel Dorfman said.
Humans of Harker: Steeped for success
“With volleyball and Medical Club, I love working with people. I get to work with people who aren't necessarily in my classes or aren't my friends specifically, but we get to work hard and work together towards a common goal. That collaboration aspect is really important to me," senior Navya Samuel said.
Humans of Harker: Cooperation through competition
“Human connection is very important to staying grounded and stable. The people around me are one of the reasons that I'm not fully burnt out, so I really prioritize keeping a good schedule for myself. Being able to prioritize the things in life that give me internal satisfaction is important to me because that's what allows me to have the drive to do good with the rest of my time. Talking to people is a way for me to replenish," senior Kashish Priyam said.
Humans of Harker: Pep in every step
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
“Playing tuba in orchestra is not always the most rewarding experience. Most of the time I sit in the back and do my homework or sleep because I have that much rest," Meghana Karinthi (12) said. "You’re definitely not the most featured person in the group. At the same time, when I see the group do well and I know that I took a part in that, it gives me a lot more satisfaction than me having a whole bunch of solos.”

Humans of Harker: Meghana Karinthi makes the difference behind the scenes

by Nina Gee, Reporter • May 20, 2018

Meghana Karinthi (12) is a 5-foot girl playing a 4-foot tuba. She also happens to play one of the most aggressive positions in water polo, a fact that surprises people to no end and frustrates Meghana...

"Sick started as just like a common saying, like 'oh, that's sick,'" Matthew Kennedy (12) said. "You know, common teen slang. Then I wrote it on my knuckles 'cause I thought it was edgy and thought it looked good. Fast forward, someone was telling a story which I didn't care about, and I said, 'sick, dude,' and gave him a fist pound. He thought it was funny, so I started doing it more often. Now it's a part of my life."

Humans of Harker: Matthew Kennedy builds character

by Jin Tuan, Reporter • May 19, 2018

Walking down school hallways with a purposeful stride and a hand in his green sports hoodie pocket, Matthew “Matt” Kennedy (12) is simultaneously extroverted and introspective. “I’m in my head...

“[My mom would] take me to different places; she’d take me to a lot of the big cities to where a lot of the fashion designer brands came from," Alan Jiang (12) said. "She would spend hours and hours there — I used to be really mad, because she doesn’t know how to speak English, and we’d stay in the store for four-five hours just to pick one item that she really liked and I had to translate for her, so that’s why I was exposed to a lot of the stuff. Back then, I really hated it — I was really mad at my mom. But afterwards, I was kind of inspired by it.”

Humans of Harker Video: Alan Jiang weaves together family and fashion

May 18, 2018

This is the fourth 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. Videography:...

“There's one quote that I remember from when I was four years old that my dad told me, probably after I threw macaroni on the carpet or something: ‘because you're so young, you're still looking for the boundaries, and that's okay,’” Dolan Dworak (12) said. “You can always look for them. I guess my forte has always been going to the edge of the cliff but never really jumping off. It's very relieving to wake up and do exactly what you say you're going to do and be the exact person that you envision yourself to be.”

Humans of Harker: Dolan Dworak subverts expectations

by Zachary Hoffman, Reporter • May 14, 2018

“It's actually kind of troubling how a lot of the most important things have been just impulsive and horribly unplanned,” Dolan Dworak (12) said of his high school career. He sat in the middle of...

“Even if I don’t have advice to give them, I listen to them,” Richa Bhattacharya (12) said. “My friend went through a really dark point of her life in the past, and she decided to trust me and talk to me, and I respect that and I honor that, and I still check up on her everyday, whether or not anything was wrong. I’ll just check up on her if something good or bad happened. I enjoy being a safe space for the people that I’m comfortable with.”

Humans of Harker: Richa Bhattacharya strengthens friendships through listening

by Vijay Bharadwaj, Winged Post News Editor • May 11, 2018

“She was the first person outside my advisory to talk to me at Harker,” Kunal Bhandarkar (12) said. “I didn't show it, but I was kind of nervous about that day, and we were doing a ropes course,...

"As a kid, I think I always liked exploring and I liked going outdoors," Amy Dunphy said. "My backyard had a lot of trees in it, so I was always trying to climb one, trying to get up in any way I could. I spent a lot of time there, and I'd see things that interested me, see things that were weird, like 'Why does this leaf have spots?' like 'Why is this bug this way?' and I, you know, sometimes tried experimenting with them. Mostly just tried poking at them with sticks."

Humans of Harker Video: Amy Dunphy ventures into uncharted scientific territory

by Nina Gee, Humans of Harker Videographer • May 8, 2018

This is the third 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=29AfKd3_3KM

"I like messing with computers," Sunny Jayam (12) said. "I started with taking stuff apart and then I started actually learning what the things did on the computer because they're so complex. They're small, you know, compared to big machinery and stuff and I started learning about how these would work. Then in freshman year, I built one and it was a big learning experience, and I learned that there's a whole community that lives and breathes computers. I just remember like just going into my dad's office over the weekends to try and figure out how I get this game to work on my father's computer. I took like a solid week, just trying to make it work. I finally got it. It was fun."

Humans of Harker: Sunny Jayam solves problems in the robotics lab

by Anthony Xu, Reporter • May 6, 2018

On most days, after packing up his books from his last period, senior Sunjit “Sunny” Jayam (12) heads over to the robotics lab — his “office” of sorts. “Both my parents have been involved...

“I realized that there was more to high school than just sitting with my books and studying, and I realized that instead of following that set formula of study hard, hopefully get good grades, get into a good college, I can kind of learn from the people around me and I can get more social,” Shreyas Chandrashekaran (12) said. “I took those both standing up and I adapted to them I really have no regrets over those experiences because they really shaped who I am as a person. I would rather have those than be the single unifaceted person that I was in freshman year. If I had to do it again, a 100 times over, I would do it the same way.”

Humans of Harker: Shreyas Chandrashekaran adapts to his circumstances

by Vijay Bharadwaj, Winged Post News Editor • May 5, 2018

Whenever you see Shreyas Chandrashekaran (12), he’s usually in the gym shooting hoops, tossing the football on the field with his friends during lunch — at least, while he’s not injured from a basketball...

“Part of the reason I was interested in archery and why I initially started it was because I like fantasy stories," Gwyneth Chen (12) said. "I read and watch movies with my family, and it pops up a lot. It's interesting because the way my instructor teaches it is not competitive, so I get to treat it more like meditation. There's the idea of perfecting yourself and your own focus, which makes it a little bit different from traditional sports, and that's the part of it that I really enjoy."

Humans of Harker: Gwyneth Chen’s crafts embody her quiet elegance

by Emily Chen, Reporter • May 4, 2018

The delicately twisted piece of gold wire forms a perfectly spiraled ring on Gwyneth Chen’s (12) pinky, the ends connected by a crystal and the sides detailed with coiled wire. “I do wire jewelry...

“I want to be remembered for being wise and kind, and I chose the word wise specifically because I don't want to be remembered as smart," Lauren Russell (12) said. "I want to be remembered as being able to look at a situation and react maturely, appropriately but also kindly based on what I know.”

Humans of Harker: Lauren Russell participates with intention

by Anmol Velagapudi and Melissa Kwan, Reporter • May 3, 2018

According to Lauren Russell (12), puzzles and books are great ways to “not-think.” “I really like puzzles, and not just like spread out puzzles on the board and make the picture, but a lot of...

"[In high school,] my new group of friends was very different from anything previously. In middle school, all we did was do math competitions and play cards," Swapnil Garg (12) said. "But in ninth grade, nobody did that—during lunch, you had to sit at a table and have discussions. I had to learn to be able to be more intellectual, and to provide more substance in my thinking abilities relating to things that were not just math. I was very scared of, for example, English class."

Humans of Harker: Swapnil Garg branches beyond math

by Derek Yen, Winged Post Opinion Editor • May 2, 2018

Senior Swapnil Garg is perhaps best known for his mathematical abilities. An avid participant in math olympiads and other competitions, Swapnil has been competing since sixth grade. "At the beginning...

"I have a degenerative disc in my back," Taylor Kohlmann (12) said. "When I got injured, I realized that the thing that I’ve thrown myself into, maybe it’s not the only thing I might enjoy. There was one summer where my coach and my doctor talked and they were like ‘don’t swim. See if it will go away.’ That was the summer that I was able to go on that Japan trip and do new things, and I started working as a lifeguard, which I wouldn’t have done because I wouldn’t have had time because I would have been at the pool for like six hours."

Humans of Harker: Taylor Kohlmann reflects on family, friends and unexpected new paths born from setback

by Sahana Srinivasan, Winged Post Editor-in-Chief • May 1, 2018

Taylor Kohlmann’s lifelong race in the swimming pool began for a small, innocuous reason: in first grade, several of her friends hosted pool parties for their birthdays; she didn’t know how to swim,...

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