The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila
“We're in a world where we're very focused on ourselves and our own successes. It’s important to be able to stop and consider yourself in different ways. That's performing: considering yourself in different situations and being able to take that pause and breathe. You're helping yourself and you're serving others," senior Bhavya Srinivasan said.
Humans of Harker: Building the script for community
Humans of Harker: Crafting with care
Humans of Harker: Crafting with care
Humans of Harker: Scoring with strategy
Humans of Harker: Scoring with strategy
Humans of Harker: Nets and networks
Humans of Harker: Nets and networks
Humans of Harker: Painting with purpose
Humans of Harker: Painting with purpose
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
Humans of Harker: Bravery through connection

Humans of Harker: Bravery through connection

by Steven Jiang, TALON Conservatory Editor • May 20, 2025

As night fell at the Duke campus, everything was quiet, except for the predictable and rhythmic chirping of the crickets. The iconic Duke chapel stood illuminated, casting a glow against the darkness....

(Disha Gupta)

Humans of Harker: Curls and creativity

by Disha Gupta, Humans of Harker Editor-in-Chief • May 20, 2025

Senior Shaila Tandon craved a creative outlet — one that challenged her to think critically and build something impactful but didn’t fit into the conventional molds of art or humanities. She wanted...

“I like the familiarity with watercolor, but also I like that the colors can blend so easily, and it's not anything that's really sharp. Each color is not anything that's particularly eye-catching, but if you add them all together, it creates this thing that overall looks pretty. While each part is not, in itself, very eye-catching, it's still harmonious and pretty as a whole," senior Lianna Wan said.

Humans of Harker: Painting with introspection and creativity

by Minal Jalil, Reporter • May 19, 2025

A stroke of color blooms outward on the page as veins of soft, blurred pigment stretch towards the edge of the scene. For senior Lianna Wan, watercolor is an art of storytelling, a window into a deeper...

"A motto that I live by is, ‘You only live once,’ and it's come up a lot of times throughout my high school experience like when I was going to join football. I was really hesitant about it because of how many people say that they get injured, but I realized that it was either I have this experience now or I'm never going to have this experience, and I was glad I made that decision," senior Vedant Yadav said.

Humans of Harker: Beyond the game

by Ashley Mo, Winged Post Editor-in-Chief • May 19, 2025

On any given afternoon, you can catch senior Vedant Yadav balancing the thin edge between grit and grace. Whether it’s sprinting down the football field or scaling a rock climbing wall hundreds of...

“I try to really put myself into the shoes of whatever I’m photographing. I imagine sometimes, if I were that bird, what would it feel like to be in this moment and flying, or if I were the person that I’m taking a portrait of, what would it feel like to see through their eyes? Then, I try to express that through how I frame the photo," senior Claire Zhao said.

Humans of Harker: Capturing compassion

by Lily Shi, Aquila Editor-In-Chief • May 19, 2025

Two deer walk along a cul-de-sac, half their bodies bathed in a shaft of sunlight as they pass in front of a yellow road sign. In another frame, dark shrubbery and a bending tree encircle a mountain...

Humans of Harker: Singing with spirit

Humans of Harker: Singing with spirit

by Aishani Singh, Aquila Managing Editor • May 18, 2025

The music swells, the lights gleam on the stage and the crowd erupts as senior Ananya Das and her choir step forward, holding the American flag in front of thousands of people. The moment feels surreal...

Humans of Harker: Leading with enthusiasm

Humans of Harker: Leading with enthusiasm

by Emma Li, Winged Post Managing Editor • May 18, 2025

Harker Dance captain. Mock trial head of attorneys. HSLT executive secretary. President of the National Honor Society. Youth advocate for the Brady Campaign, a project calling for gun control. This...

“I've always been really creative and continuing to have that outlet, whether it be dance or art, it keeps that core value strong. All the art forms I do have shaped the way I see the world. I see it through a very artistic lens and I'll find beauty in the tiny things that some people miss," senior Sonia Yu said.

Humans of Harker: Dancing through the details

by Eva Cheng, Aquila Editor-in-Chief • May 18, 2025

Tech crew and dance teachers move quickly through the Patil Theater, making final adjustments just days before the Upper School Dance Production. Dancers rehearse intently, running through each movement...

“I want to do everything I can to make people's lives easier. Whether it's helping people with homework or just doing other little things, that's something that I really value highly within myself. I’ve tried to do my best to carry that out with beekeeping: checking out what in my hive needs tending to and then responding to that," senior Andrew Liang said.

Humans of Harker: Bee my guest

by Aubrie Su, Reporter • May 18, 2025

A swarm of soft, steadily murmuring bees coats the tree branch like a puffed yellow sweater. Their bodies materialize and dematerialize as they slip past one another and throttle the spring air. For...

Humans of Harker: Engineering beats

Humans of Harker: Engineering beats

by Aileen Jang, Reporter • May 18, 2025

Underneath the illuminating glow of the stage lights, senior Kyle Li belts a soulful melody from his alto saxophone, his resonating sound soaring over the hum of the jazz band. Each rising and falling...

“What matters about reading is not your ability to read, but taking in the words and understanding the plot: it’s how you dialogue with what you have read and how you work alongside the text to gain more understanding. That’s what the point of reading is. No book will ever make me feel exactly the same as any other book. And that uniqueness is what matters to me the most," senior Felix Chen said.

Humans of Harker: Chapters of curiosity

by Kristiyan Kurtev, Reporter • May 18, 2025

Squeeeel. The subway car rumbles beneath the city of concrete and dreams. A boy, lost in a worn paperback, sits oblivious to the world around him. The glow of the station lights casts a warm hue on...

“I've gotten a lot more composed when I conduct. I know much more what and why I'm doing it, and it helps the process go smoothly. I enjoyed conducting last year at the spring concert with orchestra. That was a fun experience because I was in the moment and everyone was with me. I liked being able to feel the music play with everyone," senior Rohan Ramkumar said.

Humans of Harker: Conducting change

by Charlene Li, Reporter • May 18, 2025

One baton, six dozen musicians, infinite possibilities. Senior Rohan Ramkumar lifts his baton, and with a swift flick of his wrist, the orchestra comes alive. There’s a meticulously crafted rhythm...

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