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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

“For me, I found out that kindness goes a long way in building relationships, and keeping relationships. It helps in social situations and work. But most importantly, being kind to other people, even the little things like holding a door open helps me so much. It just makes me so happy knowing I was kind to someone, and that they appreciated it. And there’s no feeling in the world that can compare to that,” Anthony Xu (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Growing with the T-Fam

by Eric Fang, Winged Post Co-Editor-in-Chief May 2, 2020

On Aug. 23, 2016, Anthony Xu (12) took his first step inside the journalism room. After getting lost on the unfamiliar high school campus, he was 40 minutes late for his first yearbook class. Walking in,...

"[Interning] was a really eye-opening experience for me because before when I thought of San Jose, I thought of skyscrapers and tech firms and big companies, but working with my councilman, I realized that it’s a lot more than what it pretends to be. I realized that people are struggling even in my own community, and that was one of my blind spots. I hope that with community service and political activism, I can change that," Eric Fang (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Seeking the story

by Anthony Xu, TALON Co-Editor-in-Chief May 2, 2020

Standing in Fromm Hall at the University of San Francisco, with a reporter’s notebook in his hands and a press pass around his neck, Eric Fang (12) intently listened to the person standing in front of...

“The day before senior year started, we were driving on Highway 1, which is the really scenic route along the coast. I'm sitting there in the car with the three people that I love the most in the world [— my mom, my dad and my sister]. Being able to try new things, like buying avocados on the side of the road and trying honeycomb for the first time, to go on hikes and then appreciate the beautiful scenery, while listening to music that we all love — it's a luxury. As I'm leaving for college, it's probably something that will happen less and less, so it means a lot because it's a memory we’ll all share and treasure,” Allison Jia (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Balancing perspectives

by Helen Zhu, TALON Academics and Co-Conservatory Editor May 2, 2020

Balancing on the silver structure “Perspectives,” the defining landmark outside her apartment complex, Allison Jia (12) laughs as she steadies herself. Walking around the block every night, Allison...

“I think captains are really good at hiding all the stuff they go through to guide the team, so it was surprising to me when I became one. I had to intervene sometimes and mend people together to get rid of tension, but I think in the end, it made me a better leader and communicator,” Cas Ruedy (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Captainship, competition and compilations

by Sabrina Takemoto, TALON Seniors Editor April 30, 2020

Ever since she created her first video compilation in her sophomore year of high school, Cassandra "Cas" Ruedy (12) has carved a potential career path for herself in both the business and computer science...

“I grew up playing a sport every season as a kid, so I've played pretty much everything, and I think that was a really big part of my life and just helping me develop who I am. I think you learn a lot about yourself through teams. I think I learned some of my really core values and what I believe in about how you treat others, responsibility, teamwork, just how to be a good human,” Piper White (12) said.

Humans of Harker: From mentee to mentor

by Jasleen Hansra, TALON Reporter April 30, 2020

Confident. Loud. Strong. Those are the words that come to mind when seeing Piper White (12).  “I'm loud. I'm really loud. I'm always being told that I'm yelling, but it's true, I am,” Piper said,...

“I try to bring a lot of energy whenever I’m leading a group. A lot of times like you'll see jumping around or telling a lot of jokes.  I like to make people feel comfortable in the environment that they're working in so they can focus on just getting work done,” Rohan Sonecha (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Leadership and laughter

by Michael Eng, Reporter April 29, 2020

During office hours or lunch, Rohan Sonecha (12) can be seen meandering around campus with a cohort of friends, his tall frame peaking above everyone.  He tells a joke and the whole group erupts into...

“[The feeling of teaching a kid something new] is just inspiring, honestly, because you just see them light up as soon as they understand that new concept and you can just see it click in their brain. What I really love is that you're just able to provide a positive experience for this kid and just improve their life by helping them expand their knowledge base and even find a new passion,” Ronit Gagneja (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Interconnecting fields

by Vishnu Kannan, Winged Post Sports Editor April 29, 2020

Taking a deep breath and a few seconds to gather his thoughts, Ronit Gagneja (12) begins to describe the life-changing day in the summer after his sophomore year during which doctors informed him that...

“There’s two main messages I want to spread through dance. One is about love, and there’s a song called 'Where’s The Love,' and it talks about the violence and hate in our world and how we have to come together. If we come together, we’ll always win. The other one is changing the world and redefining our own worlds to shape those of others and be the change that we want to see in the world. I think that’s a really powerful message, and I want to show that unity in my dances,” Anna Miner (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Spreading love

by Emily Chen, TALON Co-Editor-in-Chief April 28, 2020

Anna Miner’s (12) bubbly smile never fails to brighten someone’s day. Whether it’s her striking dance moves on stage, her leadership in guiding others or her selflessness in caring for children,...

“I think people are pretty universally similar. Even though my school in Thailand was a relatively different environment to Harker, we are stressed about the same things, we enjoy the same things, we have the same exact teenage struggles. And it's awesome. I really wish these different friend groups I made in high school somehow came together because it's like everyone would get along really well and it would be a super enjoyable experience,” Brandon Lin (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Finding unity in diversity

by Anthony Xu, TALON Co-Editor-in-Chief April 28, 2020

A sliver of sunlight emerged from the horizon as the loud buzz and chatter of almost 200 juniors pierced the early morning air, waiting to board the buses headed to the American River rafting site. Friends...

“[Soccer has] given me an opportunity to mentor the younger kids. They'll ask me a question about something that's maybe not directly soccer-related: whether it be that they have school questions, or that they have [questions about] just life in general. It's always fun, and it feels good. I'm an only child, and I've never had a little brother before, but they're all little brothers to me, especially the sophomores,” Shomrik Mondal (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Through the posts

by Vishnu Kannan, Winged Post Sports Editor April 27, 2020

Music blasting from a stereo speaker set on the turf of Davis Field, Shomrik Mondal (12) places a brown Wilson football on a kicking tee set on the right hash marks of the 35-yard line. After taking three...

“I definitely gravitate towards people that have some sense of ambition ... When I feel like we're all working towards something that we want, I feel like we have a connection and it's easy to relate to them,” Annie Ma (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Purposeful ambition

by Tiffany Chang, TALON Reporter April 27, 2020

Whether it be picking a theme, filtering through submissions or designing pages, publishing the Harker Eclectic Literary Magazine (HELM), a journal full of students’ artwork and creative writing pieces,...

“At Harker this is a little less apparent, but there are still a lot of components in debate that limit the potential of girls or non-male identifying people to succeed. People at Harker often don’t recognize the problems that exist outside of our community, so debate has really opened my eyes by teaching me about critical theory and things like race, gender and class,” Madison Huynh (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Stepping up and speaking out

by Sabrina Takemoto, TALON Seniors Editor April 26, 2020

As she presses the start button on her timer, which is clipped to the very edge of her laptop, Madison “Maddie” Huynh (12) rapidly speaks about the topic of nuclear warfare in front of her opponent...

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