The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila
Humans of Harker: Artificial intelligence, genuine smiles
Humans of Harker: Artificial intelligence, genuine smiles
Humans of Harker: Persuasion through policy
Humans of Harker: Persuasion through policy
“D&D seems like one of the nerdiest things you can do. You're going to get a group of people together to play a role-play game where you're fighting dragons and you're rolling dice to calculate how your battles are going. But I don’t think you should let what people think get in the way of you experiencing and loving things," senior Connor Su said.
Humans of Harker: Creatures and creativity
“I used to be very secluded and not very social or trusting of people, but all that did was make me feel alone, so in high school, I decided to open up and let people into my life. When I finally let people in, I felt a lot more whole and happy in my life, which really impacted me because now I have people I trust, like my teammates, to help me whenever I need support, and I realized how I would do the same for them, too," senior Rohit Yalla said.
Humans of Harker: Outside the arc
“If I lead by example, people will be able to say, ‘Oh, look at how many team bondings she did. I should do that too or even more,’ and try to surpass that and in the future, probably have a more bonded team. In DECA, I want there to be a lot more transparency between the officers and the members. If I foster that, then the next generation will foster that, and then the next generation will foster that," senior Maya Affaki said.
Humans of Harker: Radiating in rhythm
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
While it is essential to recognize and respect these collective identities and histories, it's equally crucial to ensure that they do not become restrictive boxes that prevent us from seeing the rich tapestry of individual experiences within them.

Lunging over boundaries of identity

by Anwen Hao, Co-Multimedia Editor • January 24, 2024

My hands trembled as I connected my fencing body cord to the reel at the end of the piste. This was my second match in the direct elimination round, and a victory here would secure me a spot in the top...

“Water polo helped me shape who I am today because at first it helped me open up socially. I'm a little bit more introverted, so it helped me make friends really easily. Also, water polo helped me with several things outside of that as well. It helped me become a better listener, helped me stay in shape, helped me set and achieve goals,” Lachlan Rossi (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Pooling friendships

by Alvira Agarwal, TALON Reporter • January 24, 2024

Shouting echoes through the otherwise silent Harker Aquatic Center, water splashing onto the ground from the pool. The intense game livens the atmosphere, and members of the audience yell support for...

Music Monday is a new installation featuring a different category of songs on a weekly basis.

Music Monday: Kick back with shoegaze

by Emma Li, Assistant A&E/Lifestyle Editor • January 23, 2024

Music Monday features a different category of songs on a weekly basis. Each Monday, Harker Aquila will release seven songs, one song for each day of the week.  As schoolwork ramps up, assignments pile...

“You have to be patient. When you're restraining an animal for it to be tube-fed, you have to trust that the people around you will keep you safe from the other animals in the pen. If you flinch, it could really hurt the animal or you could get hurt yourself, so you just have to trust,” Neel Handa (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Testing the waters

by Claire Zhao, Co-STEM Editor • January 22, 2024

On a peaceful afternoon in Sausalito, Calif., pristine, emerald waters stretch for miles in every direction, and jagged rocks dotted with barnacles line the sky’s fog-blanketed edges. But volunteering...

Harker Conservatory representatives present Conservatory Student of the Month Cantilena singer Juhi Madala (12) with a crown. Conservatory representatives also invited everyone to attend the 2024 Dance Production.

School meeting 1/17: Campus animals, Winter Ball, lockdown protocol

by Felix Chen, Co-News Editor • January 22, 2024

Associated Student Body Vice President Ella Lan (12) opened the first school meeting of the second semester on Wednesday.  Sophomores Ashley Mo and Aline Grinspan of Students for Ethical Treatment...

“I always try to put others in front of me and make sure that I can be there for as many people in my life as possible. Even if I'm going through something I make sure to give people my undivided attention if they need it. When I volunteered at the Marine Center in Santa Cruz, I encountered so many people with so many different opinions. Just meeting new people with unique personalities taught me to have an open mind in any situation,” Medini Halepete (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Fostering connection

by Disha Gupta, Co-Assistant Opinions Editor • January 21, 2024

Towering redwood trees and biting winds characterize the road to Santa Cruz: now Medini Halepete’s (12) weekly commute. Whether she is visiting biochemistry labs on the UC Santa Cruz campus or volunteering...

Former Secretary of State Dr. Henry Kissinger shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo. Kissinger remained active and prominent in global politics long after his retirement. (Provided by state.gov)

What was Henry Kissinger’s legacy?

by Hima Thota, Felix Chen, and Vika Gautham • January 17, 2024

From orchestrating clandestine bombings in Cambodia to involvement in Latin American governments, few historical figures have left more of a controversial legacy than former 56th secretary of state Henry...

Winter instrumental concert rings in seasonal spirit

Winter instrumental concert rings in seasonal spirit

by Alison Yang and Jessica Wang • January 17, 2024

Discord fills the Rothschild Performing theater. Upstairs, the tuning of instruments battles with anticipatory chatter and last-minute pep talks. Downstairs, audience members rustle through programs...

The Big 10 suspended University of Michigan football head coach Jim Harbaugh for three games on Nov. 10 after reports of a Wolverines staffer’s sign-stealing plot sparked major headlines.

Anatomy of a climb

by Gabe Sachse, Co-News Editor • January 16, 2024

The Big 10 suspended University of Michigan football head coach Jim Harbaugh for three games on Nov. 10 after reports of a Wolverines staffer’s sign-stealing plot sparked major headlines.  Less...

“Even though a car as a whole can seem super complex, when you break one down into its individual parts, it becomes a lot simpler. Taking stuff apart and seeing how it all works together really helps me learn how things work, not just cars. I need to see something in action and work with it before I completely understand how to solve a problem,” Ashwin Kuppahally (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Racing to rescue

by Jonathan Szeto, Co-Assistant News Editor • January 15, 2024

With the intense sun shining down and his hands stained with oil and grease, Ashwin Kuppahally (12) looks down at the intricate maze of pipes, bolts, gears and tubes that lay before him. For the past day,...

Music Monday is a new installation featuring a different category of songs on a weekly basis.

Music Monday: Embrace EDM’s diversity with Aquila

by Kevin Zhang, Aquila Co-Managing Editor • January 15, 2024

Music Monday features a different category of songs on a weekly basis. Each Monday, Harker Aquila will release seven songs, one song for each day of the week. The end of the beginning and the beginning...

Sweaters aren't just about keeping warm; they're the epitome of winter fashion. Whether it's a chunky cable-knit or a sleek cashmere, sweaters are versatile.

A warm winter hug

by Vika Gautham, Co-Features Editor • January 14, 2024

Waking up on winter mornings always proves to be a struggle, especially when I’m tucked under the many blankets on my bed. Though reluctant, I pull off my covers. I make my way to my closet, revealing...

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