The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila
“It's almost like you have to practice failing. Going through that experience, you realize that it's not the end of the world. Don't be afraid to just try to veer off and try some more unconventional methods," Eric Zhang ('25) said.
Humans of Harker: Colors of confidence
“A specific aspect of volunteering that I love is seeing the actual difference you can make. It's very fulfilling. At the farm, when kids or people with disabilities come in and meet the animals, you can see the joy that it creates. It's really an unmatched experience to see that and to be a part of creating that," Avery Jones ('25) said.
Humans of Harker: Paws and purpose
"Math is all about collaboration, much more than it is competition. It’s a subject where communication is indispensable, where you’re bound to need to consult other mathematicians for advice. I hope that I’ve been somebody who was always there to help and support other people, since math is so much more about working as a team than it is working alone," Alex Huang ('25) said.
Humans of Harker: Computational connections
“Photography reshaped the way I see certain things because it helps me see perspectives. There are a lot of different perspectives and a lot of different emotions that people have, so I feel like I can be more attuned to how people feel after looking at a lot of pictures of people's emotions and feelings," Angelina Burrows ('25) said.
Humans of Harker: Snapping a shot
“I want to be remembered for being a good leader on campus in a variety of spaces, whether in a classroom or club. As a leader of MESA, I facilitate discussions about the Middle East. Although it’s a pretty contentious area, I’m proud of how we’re able to have a safe space where nobody has any problems with anyone else," Maziar Zhai ('25) said.
Humans of Harker: Curious choices
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
Running back Pedro Castro III clings to the football as Cougar defenders drag him down during the season opener match. The Eagles went 5-3 in the Pacific Coast Athletic League.

2024 recap: Fall sports highlights

by Eva Cheng and Tiffany Zhu • November 23, 2024

From notable playoff runs to historic achievements, the fall sports teams wrapped up their seasons with strong performances in every league. Participating in the Pacific Coast Athletic...

Driver Oskar Baumgarte (12) fights to maintain possession of the ball during the Open Division CCS semifinal match against Saint Francis. “We knew it would be a hard game from the start, but overall, as a team, we were just happy to be playing," Oskar said.

Varsity boys water polo falters against Saint Francis 11-13 in historic CCS semifinal match

by Tiffany Zhu and Sam Li • November 20, 2024

Varsity boys water polo succumbed to Saint Francis High School 11-13 in the Open Division CCS semifinal match. This game marked the first time in Harker history that the team reached the CCS Open Division...

Senior cross country runners and their coaches pose with the posters their teammates made commemorating their time on the team. Every year, frosh, sophomore and junior athletes honor the graduating class by showering them with gifts and gratitude.

Varsity girls and boys cross country qualifies for CCS Championships on senior night

by Samuel Tong, Angelina Burrows, and Samaara Patil • November 15, 2024

Varsity and junior varsity cross country teams competed in the West Bay Athletic League Championships at the Crystal Springs three mile course in Belmont and celebrated senior night on Nov. 8. For the...

Running back Jackson Powell (11) sprints with the football as offensive lineman Henry Fradin (11) defends a Warriors player. The varsity football team demolished Trinity Christian 58-0 on senior night.

Varsity football decimates Trinity Christian 58-0 on senior night

by Tiffany Zhu, Sidak Sanghari, and Jeremy Peng • November 11, 2024

Varsity football concluded their season with a 58-0 victory on senior night over Trinity Christian on Davis Field on Nov. 1.  Before the game, varsity football and varsity cheerleading held a combined...

Outside hitter Maya Horan (9) tosses the volleyball in preparation to serve during the frosh girls volleyball team's game against Priory. The team dominated in two sets 25-19 and 25-5.

Frosh girls volleyball prevails over Priory 25-19, 25-5

by Victoria Li and Leah Krupnik • November 3, 2024

Frosh girls volleyball defeated Priory 25-19 and 25-5 in the Zhang Gymnasium on Tuesday.  Harker fell behind at the start of the first set due to mistakes in communication and coordination, causing...

Senior middle hitter Emily Mitnick tips the ball over the net. The varsity girls volleyball team dominated Priory 25-16, 25-19, 25-10 during their senior night game.

Varsity girls volleyball conquers Priory in three sets on senior night

by Chelsea Xie and Isabella Lo • November 2, 2024

Outside Annabel Huang (10) dives to the ground to save a ball. The Eagles defeated the Knights in two sets 25-22 and 25-15.

Junior varsity girls volleyball conquers Kings Academy in two sets

by Vivek Moorjani and Cynthia Xie • October 30, 2024

Junior varsity girls volleyball defeated Kings Academy 25-22 and 25-15 on Oct. 24.   Setter Emma Lee (10) made the first serve of the match and Kings Academy took the initial lead after an out-of-bounds...

Seniors Audrey Feng, Charlize Wang and Olivia Guo hold bouquets and smile for a picture during their varsity girls tennis senior night on Oct. 22. The team went on to crush Sacred Heart Preparatory 6-1.

Varsity girls tennis dominates Sacred Heart Preparatory 6-1 on senior night

by Caden Ruan and Charlie Wang • October 30, 2024

Varsity girls tennis overcame Sacred Heart Preparatory 6-1 during their senior night match at Blackford on Oct. 22. Before the matches, the team honored seniors Audrey Feng, Olivia Guo and Charlize...

Melody hugs her teammate during the senior night ceremony. “I've come to realize how special a connection I have with the other seniors on my team,” utility player Melody said.

Varsity girls water polo triumphs over Mountain View 12-5 on senior night

by Victor Gong and Claire Tian • October 26, 2024

Sophomore Claire Xu prepares to hit the tennis ball with a forehand swing. Claire defeated her opponent in a single 8-3 set.

Varsity girls tennis annihilates Crystal Springs Uplands 6-1

by Samuel Tong and Wenjie Zou • October 21, 2024

Varsity girls tennis defeated Crystal Springs Uplands 6-1 at Blackford last Thursday.  The Eagles won all singles matchups by a margin of at least three games against Crystal Springs Uplands. In the...

Olivia Guo (12) hits the ball during her match against Menlo's Emily Li. She started off strong, winning 7-6 in her first set, but went on to lose 2-6 and 3-10 in a hard-fought game.

Varsity girls tennis suffers 3-4 loss to Menlo

by Mihir Kotbagi and Jonathan Szeto • October 18, 2024

Varsity girls tennis narrowly succumbed to Menlo School 3-4 at Blackford on Tuesday. Eagles’ singles players, seniors Audrey Feng and Olivia Guo, junior Pavith Khara and frosh Kendra Zhao all...

Sam Li (10) holds the ball overhead to fake a shot before passing it to a teammate for an assist. Sam demonstrated teamwork and communication throughout the game, setting up three goals for his teammates.

Varsity boys water polo cruises to victory against Fremont 21-5

by William Jiang and Nathan Yee • October 17, 2024

Varsity boys water polo defeated Fremont High School 21-5 on Oct. 11.  Senior Adam Pawliger won the opening swim-off, allowing sophomore Ian Cheline to lob a pass to senior Oskar Baumgarte, who landed...

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