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

“One thing that I wish other people cared about was being more conscious and aware about other people and focusing more on learning from other people. Some of my most memorable learning experiences have been from working with other people and learning from them, whether thats communities or my friends, and a lot of people take that for granted and prioritize learning from books or school and not actually learning from experiences or other people,” Zoe Kister (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Exploring the unfamiliar

by Margaret Cartee and Katie Reed May 17, 2021

With hazel ombre hair flowing down her shoulders and a bright smile illuminating her face, Zoe Kister (12) sweeps her right leg up into a scorpion-like position, displaying her exceptional flexibility...

“My most defining experiences all came in middle school since I was able to explore what kind of person I wanted to mold myself into. It was a struggling process, but the effort that I was a bit reluctant to put in ended up being worthwhile. It wasn’t just about finding a balance between school and leisure, but also about finding and fitting in with my own group of friends. Now … I’ve found my crowd and I’ve struck that school and fun balance that’s allowed me to be successful,” Rohan Kannan (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Creating the right vibe

by Kushal Shah, Sports Columnist May 11, 2021

Heartily chuckling while in deep conversation with his huddled up friends during office hours, Rohan Kannan (12) points to another friend working alone on a lunch table nearby, checking in with him and...

“Youre never going to be perfect, youre never going to reach your exact goal, but you can keep working towards it, finding those small things that you can change that will make a bigger improvement than you ever think theyll be able to,” Aditi Vinod (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Skiing towards success

by Lakshmi Mulgund, TALON Co-Sports and Social Media Editor May 11, 2021

When scrolling through Aditi Vinod’s (12) Instagram feed, there may be a few robotics or dog photos scattered throughout, but the blinding white snow and skis take over her photos. In one particular...

“You really only do live once. You might as well live your life to the fullest, especially as a child. And as a teen in high school, live your life to the fullest and dont have any regrets. I like to have fun and not really care about what other people think of me. I think thats definitely a way to go with life, because if you care about what everyone thinks, youre really not going to enjoy it to the fullest,” Natalie Vo (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Swinging through life

by Sally Zhu, Humans of Harker Profiler May 10, 2021

Natalie Vo (12) leans her head back in thought, vividly remembering the moment she qualified for the Women’s Amateur Tournament last summer, the day that all her hard work paid off and finally revealed...

 “[Coaching] taught me so much about myself as a person, but I’m helping kids develop not only as players but as people, which I think is very important. To help facilitate that change has been something that is very meaningful to me. And to see kids come into the room and grow more confident and supportive [of] each other is really, really cool; that’s why I think it’s really worth it,” Hannah Grannis (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Hurdling over horizons

by Angelina Hu and Kinnera Mulam May 10, 2021

Amid the jerseyed middle school children dribbling soccer balls across the field stands Hannah Grannis (12). Calmly and patiently, she directs the young aspiring soccer players with the knowledge she has...

“I’ve always done my best to keep an open mind and try everything just once. You won’t ever know if you’ll like something if you never attempt it and that’s what I strive to do. At the end of the day, I just want to spend my time pursuing things that I actually enjoy doing. I’m going to do the things that are genuinely meaningful to me — things that give me the outlet I need to impact others,” Ray Wang (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Dribbling with drive

by Kushal Shah, Sports Reporter May 10, 2021

32 seconds. The scoreboard reads 62-61, with the opposing team up by a single point. A whistle’s shriek pierces the air, signaling the inbounding of the ball. Catching the inbound ball, the point guard...

“Being able to report on my community from the sidelines has given me a platform to be able to do something with my voice, to find communities that were not covering and to connect with them, to form a bridge between, quite literally, the people who are on the gym floor playing that sports game and the people in the stands,” Anna Vazhaeparambil (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Pictures for a purpose

by Sarah Mohammed, Asst. Features Editor May 10, 2021

Anna Vazhaeparambil (12) remembers carving a small space for herself on the press stand, hands smoothly adjusting the lens of her black camera, as she takes pictures alongside journalists from some of...

“I find it more important to actually use your intelligence than to just be intelligent, so starting my own school to teach math taught me a lot about the way I approach [the subject]. I’m always trying to adapt my own skills as my students come up with interesting ways to solve different types of problems, so I hope that I’m remembered not necessarily as someone who was only smart, but more for the way that I used that intelligence to help people and create new things,” Utkarsh Priyam (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Putting the pieces together

by Arushi Saxena, Co-Managing Editor May 6, 2021

Ask anyone what they think of Utkarsh Priyam (12), and “smart” is undoubtedly the first word that comes to mind. A few minutes of conversation reveal that his talents lie far beyond his intelligence,...

“Ultimately, I want to be able to venture into new things and gain a breadth of experiences and perspectives, be able to document and fully appreciate every moment, every memory, every connection, and then pass on that same journey and hopefully make an impact somewhere along the way,” Helen Zhu (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Searching for the melody

by Irene Yuan, Multimedia Editor May 6, 2021

Helen Zhu (12) remembers sitting in the auditorium watching the oldest students at her choir perform a song by the name of “Prayer of the Children.” At 6 years old, she was in awe of the way the group...

“One of the best things about senior year is that you can take much more niche classes, and I would tell [people] to take great advantage of that, because Harker has classes that no other schools offer. Its benefited me [and] Im really glad, retrospectively, that I tried a bunch of classes I had no idea about instead of trying to only take things I was familiar with,” Avery Young (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Venturing into the unknown

by Lavanya Subramanian, TALON Student Life Editor May 6, 2021

With one hand holding a bag full of snacks and the other holding a volleyball, Avery Young (12) makes his way onto the sand courts of West Valley College. After spotting his friends on the middle court,...

“I don’t know if it’s part of a culture, but in our household, one of the main emphasis was always giving back and appreciating what you already have. I feel like giving back … everybody can just do that,” Cordelia Callaud-Guyart (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Redonner

by Ananya Sriram and Alena Suleiman May 6, 2021

Redonner. The foreign word is simply a way to say “giving back” in French, yet it perfectly encapsulates a major aspect of Cordelia Callaud-Guyart (12). “I don’t know if it’s part of a culture,...

“Everything happens for a reason, so in my mind, theres going to be a class or a professor, or an assignment or something that leads me somewhere. Thats my vision … [and] well see [how it ends up],” Anna Arnaudova (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Cheez-its and chuckles

by Ariana Goetting and Defne Avkarogullari May 5, 2021

Seeing Anna Arnaudova (12) arrive at school with a box of Cheez-its on Mondays is not an unusual sight for classmates and teachers. Anna has grown fond of the Harker community from her time at Harker since...

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