The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila
Humans of Harker: Multi-disciplined, multi-dimensional
Humans of Harker: Multi-disciplined, multi-dimensional
Humans of Harker: Continuous and differentiable
Humans of Harker: Continuous and differentiable
Humans of Harker: Power in profiles
Humans of Harker: Power in profiles
Humans of Harker: Widening the aperture
Humans of Harker: Widening the aperture
Humans of Harker: Sharing stories, striking serves
Humans of Harker: Sharing stories, striking serves
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
Executive Director of Education at Anchor Distilling Co. and founder of beverage magazine Mutineer Magazine Alan Kropf addresses the importance of finding happiness in one's career. Kropf was one of five featured speakers at today's TEDx event.

TEDx speaker series hosts entrepreneurs, company representatives

by Varsha Rammohan, Reporter • November 4, 2017

Several entrepreneurs and businesses presented at the annual TEDx speaker series today in Nichols Auditorium. The speakers featured at the event were Ray Wang, Ryan Evans, Julie Campistron, Alan Kropf...

Dancers practice their routine with different props. The Dance Production will take place on Jan. 26 through Jan. 27.

Behind the scenes: Dance Production

by Saloni Shah, Reporter • November 4, 2017

Thunder echoed across the dance room as the group of eleven boys practiced their hip-hop routine to a remix of Bruno Mars’ “24K Magic”. Sweat dripped down their faces as they worked on the fast-moving...

Linguistics Club representatives Derek Yen (12) and Andy Semenza (12) encourage students to sign up for the North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad (NACLO). Linguistics Club helped students prepare for the NACLO by offering presentations and practice problems.

School meeting recap 11/3

by Anvi Banga, Aquila Asst. News Editor • November 3, 2017

Next week is Harker Eclectic Literary Magazine’s (HELM) club week, and they will be selling pearl milk tea during lunch on Nov. 7 and 8 and after school on Nov. 10. HELM will also be hosting an art workshop...

“You have to embrace high school while it lasts,” Olivia Long (12) said. “I really wasn't doing much in my freshman year—it was just gymnastics, school, sleep, repeat. You hear about the stereotypical high school experience, and it seems so fun and everybody’s so involved, so I wanted to take part in that. Cheerleading lets me show school spirit.”

Humans of Harker: Olivia Long balances old and new

by Krishna Bheda, Columnist • November 3, 2017

As a gymnast since age two, Olivia Long (12) loves the feeling of flying. “It's just so free,” she said. “I know I'm in control, and it's so fun. When I tumble, I can get so high in the air. I...

TILE event speaker Dheeraj Pandey shares his experiences emigrating from India to the United States. “I moved from India with less than $700 in my pocket. I had little experience from working small technology jobs there, but my eyes truly opened when I had access to all these different and innovative jobs in the U.S. market,” he said.

TILE holds third and final event of this year

by Anjay Saklecha, Winged Post Copy Editor • November 3, 2017

CEO of multibillion-dollar software company Nutanix Dheeraj Pandey presented a talk this evening from 6 to 7 p.m. for the third and final TILE event of this year. Founded in 2009, Nutanix is a cloud...

Power of Words (POW) secretary Gloria Zhang (10), PR officer Stephanie Xiao (11), treasurer Ashna Reddy (10) and co-presidents Riya Singh (11) Prameela Kottapalli (11) give a presentation introducing their club during the haiku-writing workshop. POW members also sold pearl milk tea from Teaspoon and popcorn from Popcornopolis this week for their club week.

Power of Words holds club week

by Tiffany Wong, Aquila News Editor • November 3, 2017

Power of Words (POW) held a haiku-writing workshop and sold pearl milk tea and popcorn for their club week this week. A new school organization, POW was founded this year by junior Prameela Kottapalli....

Student Council Student Event Committee Head Shania Wang (11) introduces Director of Learning, Innovation and Design Diane Main and English teacher Christopher Hurshman's act to Quadchella attendees. Those interested in performing in Quadchella were invited to sign up for the event via tiny.cc/quadchella.

First Quadchella features student, faculty performers in talent show

by Zoe Sanders, Reporter • November 3, 2017

Harker’s newest talent show Quadchella featured a variety of different acts and both student and teacher performers during long lunch today in the auxiliary gym. As lunch went on and the performances...

“Life is just a super big combination of bad and good things,” Abha Patkar (12) said. “When I look back on all the things in my life, I freaked out over so much, and there was no point, because it all just… passed. Just recognizing that nothing is permanent is something that’s helped me.”

Humans of Harker: Abha Patkar prioritizes her friendships

by Jenna Sadhu, Aquila Broadcast & Multimedia Editor • November 2, 2017

Few people know about Abha Patkar’s (12) community service accolades—a Red Cross “Youth of the Year” Award and a Fisher House Challenge prize, to name two—because she chooses not to broadcast...

Saloni Shah (9) and her brother Manan Shah ('17) celebrate a festival. In 14 years, Saloni has developed a deep bond with her brother.

Some things last forever

by Saloni Shah, Reporter • November 2, 2017

My family celebrates the Indian Rakhi festival every year. On this day, I tie a sacred thread on my brother’s wrist, celebrating the eternal emotional bond between a brother and sister, though I follow...

“The [performance] I probably remember the most is the first time I ever did a solo. Everything changes when you walk out and you’re by yourself. There’s a panel of 5 judges just sitting there staring at you, and you kind of stand there and wait for the music to start, and sometimes it doesn’t start super quickly and so you stand there awkwardly. I was terrified, because I was so used to having everybody else around. But then the minute the music started and I knew what I was doing, it just felt like every other performance," Gracean Linthacum-Janker (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Gracean Linthacum-Janker dances to her own rhythm

by Nicole Chen, Aquila Features Editor • November 1, 2017

Gracean Linthacum-Janker (12) remembers the moment—the blinding lights casting her figure in a silhouette, her heart beating nervously as she waited for the music to begin. But when she heard the first...

“When I think about my high school as a unit, I find it's defined by a lot of events and a lot of trends, it's just that some of those trends, like especially me starting to sing—they're not connected at all to any goal I had when I stepped onto the campus,” Praveen Batra (12) said. “I remember at the first club fair I heard Guys’ Gig, they were touring, and I thought, ‘Wow, that's one club I'm never going to join.’ So if you look, there's a big disconnect between what my vision of what my high school would be like and where it actually turned out being.”

Humans of Harker: Praveen Batra masters both types of keyboard

by Derek Yen, Winged Post Opinion Editor • October 31, 2017

Praveen Batra (12) has resolved to enter college with a singular conviction: to pursue computer science to the greatest degree. But when he entered high school, Praveen had no strong expectation of what...

Spooky Halloween stories

Spooky Halloween stories

by Meena Gudapati, Varsha Rammohan, Michael Eng, Aditya Singhvi, Anjay Saklecha, Vijay Bharadwaj, Zoe Sanders, Arushi Saxena, Jenna Sadhu, and Sahana Srinivasan • October 31, 2017

Johnny, Jill and the Doctor’s Office   “How long will this flu shot take?” asked Johnny from the little red stool at the corner of the doctor’s office. “It should start working...

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