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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

Vidya Jeyendran (12) points at a piece of artwork to Fonda Hu (12) as they walk through the Nichols Atrium. All the exhibitions belonging to the End of Year Art Show are being exhibited across campus from May 7 to May 28.

Truly a work of art

by Aastha Mangla and Sabrina Zhu May 16, 2021

Two students step into the Nichols Atrium, looking at walls filled with patterns and colors. They slowly walk through the hallways and observe the black and white photographs, complex graphic designs and...

“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...

“You're never going to be perfect, you're 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 they'll 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...

Mayor Yan Zhao shares her own experiences with racism at the West Valley Stop Asian Hate Rally on March 27. "Today, unfortunately, we have to come together to fight for one basic human right: that is we can go to public places without the fear of being attacked or assaulted," she said in her address.

Saratoga mayor speaks out against anti-Asian hate at rally and at upper school club event

by Arely Sun, Winged Post Lifestyle Editor May 10, 2021

A sprawling crowd speckled with bold posters before her at Saratoga City Hall, Saratoga Mayor Yan Zhao stepped up to the podium and began her speech on March 27.  “America is a place with diversity,...

“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 don't have any regrets. I like to have fun and not really care about what other people think of me. I think that's definitely a way to go with life, because if you care about what everyone thinks, you're 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 we're 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...

"Be the person you are and write the poems and the stories that are in you and that you're surrounded by because that's what's going to make fantastic poetry," Siraganian said.

The Poet’s Project: “There’s this musicality in us that comes out”

by Sarah Mohammed, Features Editor May 8, 2021

Upper School English Teacher Jen Siraganian is the Los Gatos Poet Laureate and the author of “Fracture” a poetry chapbook published by Deconstructed Artichoke Press.  She has discovered strength...

“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. It's benefited me [and] I'm 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,...

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