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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

Customers order Starbucks  merchandise at the counter inside the Pike Place Starbucks store. The store offers unique Pike Place-themed cups, mugs, coffee and other merchandise.

Discovering coffee roots at Pike Place Starbucks

by Jonathan Szeto, William Jiang, and Sam Li April 26, 2025

SEATTLE — Customers line up in front of the entrance of the Starbucks in Pike Place Market at 10 a.m. on Thursday. As they enter, they are greeted by the words “Espresso” and “Cappuccino” in...

“I find value in what I do because it makes people feel happy when they see us perform. It makes them feel encouraged. It brings spirit to people, and it brings our team together in the community. Dance — it's a community thing, not just moving," senior Zachary Soraire said.

Humans of Harker: Dancing in the spotlight

by Emma Lee, TALON Student Life Editor April 25, 2025

Butterflies fluttering in his stomach, senior Zachary Soraire nervously watches the previous act behind the curtain. The dancers strike their ending poses, applause erupts in the auditorium and the...

Humans of Harker: Crossing the finish line

Humans of Harker: Crossing the finish line

by Alvira Agarwal, TALON Managing Editor April 25, 2025

Sweat beading on her head, senior Hannah Levanon sprints ahead, the sweltering heat making this cross country race a particularly challenging one. Having run close to three miles already, now all that...

“I want to be known as someone that’s able to do my own thing, so goal-determined that I don’t let the failures stop me: someone who can take the situation and turn around to look at it from an optimistic view. I’ll just keep getting back up again and again and again," senior Rushil Jaiswal said.

Humans of Harker: Going the extra mile

by Chelsea Xie, A&E/Lifestyle Editor April 24, 2025

“Runners, take your marks.” Inhale. Exhale. Eyes closed, nervous smile. “Set.” Heart pounding, muscles ready. Eyes locked on the lane. “Go.” Adrenaline rushes. Left arm swings, right leg...

“A lot of team members at Addax Games had more experience than me, so there is a lot of stuff that I don’t know as well as they do about those games. In general that would be bad, but when it comes to playtesting, that can be quite useful because not everyone who plays the game will be super experienced with board games," senior Saahil Herrero said.

Humans of Harker: Player to playtester

by Anwen Hao, Reporter April 23, 2025

Amid the shuffle of game pieces and the quiet intensity of strategic decisions, senior Saahil Herrero finds more than just entertainment — through playing tabletop games, he discovered a passion...

Humans of Harker: Charging through challenges

Humans of Harker: Charging through challenges

by Ella Guo, Humans of Harker Editor-in-Chief April 23, 2025

People decked out in face paint. Cheers filling the night air. Stands fully crowded with high school students and eager parents. As the football team enters Davis Field for the 2023 Homecoming Game,...

“It really helps to open your perspective to more topics. Especially when you're young, you tend to have a lot of prejudices against certain things that you don't like especially if someone is forcing you to do it. As I grew older and I started trying to explore things on my own, I realized that a lot of things, including learning languages, is not as bad as it seems. I think the beauty of language is that anyone who's interested enough to give it some time can do it. Language is such a fundamental aspect of everything and whatever you want to do with it, there’s infinite possibilities," senior Audrey Cheng said.

Humans of Harker: One word at a time

by Yifan Li, TALON Editor-in-Chief April 23, 2025

Pushing hair out of their eyes while scribbling some quick notes about the last linguistics lecture, senior Audrey Cheng walks into a room with a smiling instructor speaking Lithuanian. This is the...

“I already love guitar so much, and it will be something I always have. In general, it’s made me more open. I used to be scared to try anything new, but guitar was my first demonstration that trying something new was good," senior Shivraj Panja said.

Humans of Harker: Playing with pluck

by Jeremy Peng, Copy Editor April 23, 2025

Few people in the world can play an eight-string guitar — senior Shivraj Panja is one of them. Although Shivraj has been playing the standard six-string for over a decade, he started to learn the...

“It's really hard to go through life with a plan and sticking to it. You have to always adapt, and it's a really useful skill I learned from theater. I did not think I had it in me to be an actor or get up on stage and perform in front of a ton of people. But I learned by doing just that," senior Leo Sobczyn said.

Humans of Harker: Directing with positivity

by Disha Gupta, Humans of Harker Editor-in-Chief April 23, 2025

The spotlight rises, but this time, it’s not a teacher calling the shots. It’s senior Leo Sobczyn — standing just offstage, script in hand, shaping each scene with their own vision. After years...

“Music has been a part of my life for so long that it just feels like a part of me. Rather than teaching me things, it's like my friend as I slowly take on and develop its traits. I’ve learned to express myself through music. If I just stopped listening to and playing music, there'd be a piece of me missing. Music can express things that words can't, and it’s a great outlet for my emotions," senior Natalie Liu said.

Humans of Harker: Commitment to creation

by Claire Zhao, Winged Post Managing Editor April 23, 2025

It all begins with a random note and a rough idea. Add another note and adjust it until it sounds right. String together a collection of notes. The right key becomes the right melody and the right...

Humans of Harker: Sailing with spirit

Humans of Harker: Sailing with spirit

by Mirabelle Feng, TALON Student Life Editor April 23, 2025

Caught in heavy winds on a dinghy boat, Senior George Chen prepares to perform a downwind turn, a risky but necessary maneuver if he hopes to win this race. In lighter wind conditions, he could have...

Humans of Harker: Steering with smiles

Humans of Harker: Steering with smiles

by Emma Li, Winged Post Managing Editor April 22, 2025

The afternoon sun, blinding and intense, beats down on dozens of riders, painting the rocky path in a swath of yellow. Hundreds of wheels whiz past, flinging clouds of dust into the thick summer air....

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