The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila
“I want to be remembered as someone who helped my friends and people I know in the grades below to be able to appreciate all of our experiences together. I find it very inspiring to watch all my friends mature over time and want to help this community grow," senior Max Zhai said.
Humans of Harker: Mentoring the next generation
Humans of Harker: Bonds and bullseyes
Humans of Harker: Bonds and bullseyes
Humans of Harker: Piecing together a narrative
Humans of Harker: Piecing together a narrative
“When I was a VP, I had this urge to think, ‘I was a director last year. I know exactly what to do. I'm gonna do it myself, and then the directors can watch and take it on for the next year.' But then I had to realize that it's important to delegate and let them go through the hardship that it took me the year before. Even if they don't understand it, it's also important for them to go through that experience so that they can get to the point where I am now," senior Sanaa Bhorkar said.
Humans of Harker: Directing effort, coordinating action
“My hobbies are a lot of trial and error. With cooking and photography, it takes a lot of patience and messing up, and I kind of love that. I love growing and just getting better at something. There are just some creative outlets that I think are fun ways to spend time," senior Haden Andrews said.
Humans of Harker: Camaraderie, creativity and cooking
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
Upper school English teacher Christopher Hurshman delivered a speech as a faculty speaker for Honor Week about the vulnerability associated with behaving honorably. "In a sense, every time I offer respect or honesty to someone, I'm taking a risk," Hurshman said. "Every time I receive it, I'm receiving a gift."

School meeting recap 9/22/21: Nuclear nonproliferation, honor and Outlook Pals

by Lucy Ge, Co-Managing Editor • September 22, 2021

Associated Student Body (ASB) President Dawson Chen (12) welcomed the upper school community to the meeting. A varsity girls volleyball video made by BB Ajlouny (11) played on the screen before Elvis...

Senior honor council representatives Rohan Thakur, Alexa Lowe and Arely Sun announce Honor Week. An underclassman and an upperclassman can pair up, find a similarity with each other and submit a selfie together throughout the week for spirit points.

School meeting recap 9/16/21: Honor Week, Herald and Homecoming themes

by Isha Moorjani and Lucy Ge • September 21, 2021

Associated Student Body (ASB) President Dawson Chen (12) began the school meeting. ASB Vice President Ayan Nath (12) gave students reminders about driving onto the Saratoga campus, emphasizing that...

Kaden Kapadia (12) poses in a dress shirt and tie. Students could select additional outfits based on the photo package they chose.

Class of 2022 suits up for senior portraits

by Muthu Panchanatham, Opinion Editor • September 18, 2021

The Class of 2022 took their senior portraits at the upper school today from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with Prestige Portraits, a photography company for high schools. The shoot will continue throughout tomorrow,...

Two volunteers help a voter submit his California Gubernatorial recall ballot at the St. Francis of Assisi Parish polling center in San Jose. On Sept. 14, reigning democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom defeated a GOP-led recall attempt, remaining in office.

Voters reject recall attempt, Gavin Newsom to remain in office

by Nicole Tian, Isha Moorjani, and Alysa Suleiman • September 15, 2021

Gov. Gavin Newsom will remain in office after winning the recall effort today, defeating a Republican-backed attempt to oust him. With over eight million votes reported, in which 63.9% of Californians...

Intro to Journalism teacher Whitney Huang speaks to parents during sixth period in Main 5. Back to School Day was held on Saturday to give faculty the opportunity to introduce parents to their children's classes this school year.

Upper school welcomes parents on Back to School Day

by Mark Hu, Winged Post Managing Editor • September 15, 2021

Upper school faculty, teachers and student leadership hosted the annual Back to School Day at the Saratoga campus on Saturday for parents to attend abbreviated classes and meet with teachers. Student...

Associated Student Body (ASB) Vice President Ayan Nath speaks after he and other members of student council presented a video on cleanliness on campus during lunch. "The other day, I was walking by, I heard someone say, 'Oh, my God, we go to Harker, we can't afford to buy more forks? There's such a shortage of forks.' And that's because you're throwing the forks away."

School meeting recap 9/10/21: 9/11 remembrance, self-study APs and Eagle Update

by Rachel Ning, TALON Organizations Editor • September 13, 2021

Associated Student Body (ASB) President Dawson Chen (12) began the school meeting by introducing upper school Academic Dean Kelly Horan.  Horan discussed the importance of communication with teachers,...

Language and Linguistics Club President Clarice Wang (12) introduces the club to prospective members. While most juniors and seniors were familiar with the format and structure of Club Fair from their underclassmen years, both freshmen and sophomores experienced the fair in person for the first time.

Student-led organizations welcome prospective members in annual Club Fair

by Lavanya Subramanian, Ariana Goetting, and Katelyn Zhao • September 12, 2021

The annual Club Fair, which took place during the long lunch period on Wednesday, allowed students to connect with their passions by visiting club booths located at the donor plaza and RPAC lobby and signing...

Jessica Tang (11) speaks during the town hall. "At school, we're here to learn about ourselves, and I think it's most important that we have a safe place for us to learn how to express ourselves," Jessica said.

Upper school community holds town hall meeting to discuss community expectations regarding free dress

by Isha Moorjani, News Editor • September 12, 2021

The Associated Student Body (ASB) collaborated with upper school administration to organize a town hall meeting on Wednesday. Students discussed the Community Expectations regarding free dress outlined...

Juniors Karina Chen, Jessica Zhou and Anika Pandey pose with a cardboard cutout of Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci. The cutout traversed through the different areas of the event as various people took photos, posed with it or in some cases even danced with cardboard Fauci.

Spirit Kickoff launches celebration of Harker spirit through games and competitions

by Kinnera Mulam, Reporter • September 7, 2021

A crowd of students conversed while enjoying the snacks and drinks provided by the Harker Spirit Leadership Team (HSLT). They wore radiant smiles as they waited to participate in activities such as the...

Student Diversity Coalition representatives Uma Iyer (12) and Brooklyn Cicero (12) introduce Challenge Day on Friday. “[Challenge Day] was truly a transformative experience,” Brooklyn said in her speech. “It brought me a lot closer to my peers and allowed me to get very vulnerable with them, something that was a bit hard to do at first, but eventually I got used to it.”

Student Diversity Coalition announces Challenge Day event for juniors and seniors

by Isha Moorjani, News Editor • September 7, 2021

The Student Diversity Coalition (SDC) gave a presentation to juniors and seniors in the Auxiliary Gym on Friday about Challenge Day, which will be held on Friday, Sept. 17, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m....

Junior class council representative and head of the Campus Life Committee Kris Estrada (11), senior class council representative Sujith Pakala (12) and sophomore class council representative Anaya Mandal (10) provided reminders to the school community, such as putting bowls, plates, trays and utensils away properly.

School meeting recap 8/31/21: Dress code, carpooling and casting

by Isha Moorjani, News Editor • September 5, 2021

ASB President Dawson Chen (12) began the meeting and introduced head of school Brian Yager. Yager addressed the upper school students and faculty and spoke about expectations for the upper school campus...

Dean of Students Kevin Williamson addresses the student body on the Community Expectations on dress during the school meeting on Monday.

Dean of Students reminds upper school campus of community dress guidelines

by Alysa Suleiman, Co-Editor-In-Chief • September 2, 2021

Dean of Students Kevin Williamson gave an announcement on Monday during school meeting to remind students of proper school attire. Williamson’s announcement covered the history of the current Community...

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