The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila
Humans of Harker: Turn to talent
Humans of Harker: Turn to talent
“All my hobbies are about communication, which is something that rose very early in my childhood. When I'm shadowing a physician, it’s about, ‘She mentioned this drug, let me go home and research that.’ But at the same time, it's, ‘How is she making the patient feel more comfortable?’ When I'm outdoors in my Boy Scouts troop, it's about how can I bring all of that together,’” senior Shiven Balaji said.
Humans of Harker: Service, scouts and support
Humans of Harker: Aficionado of the arts
Humans of Harker: Aficionado of the arts
“Small improvements culminate in bigger goals. Tiny steps like increasing the efficiency of an algorithm, adding new features or beating personal records little by little, always lead to something better," senior Daniel Gergov said.
Humans of Harker: Small steps to sizeable success
“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
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
Campus Weekly News
School Meeting
Speech and Debate Team captains Ananya Pradhan (11), Anoushka Chakravarty (11) and Sahngwie Yim (12) celebrate the Tournament of Champions qualifiers. Harker won for the 10th time in the Cal Berkeley Invitational.
School Meeting 3/20: Fan Art, Speech and Debate and Curly Fryday
by Claire Xu, Assistant Spors Editor

Head of Upper School Paul Barsky opened the school meeting by expressing appreciation for events like Spirit Week and the musical for bringing...

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Linda Zeng (11) talks about Harker's Research Symposium, named “AI Trends: The Future is Here.” The event will host student and keynote speaker, as well as workshops from different clubs.
School Meeting 3/4: Women’s History Month, Research Symposium and ReCreate Reading
by William Jiang and Leah Krupnik
Student Diversity Coalition representative Dhanya Ramanan (10) speaks about Black History Month. She followed by showing a video about celebrating Black pride and triumphs.
School Meeting 2/20: Black History Month, Humans of Harker and Spirit
by Claire Tian and Heather Wang
Make Our Schools Safe officers Ariana Gauba (12) and Victoria Ma (11) announced a club speaker event hosting gun violence prevention advocate Kath Tsakalakis. The event will be held in biology teacher Michael Pistacchi’s room on Feb. 4.
School Meeting 1/22: Conservatory, Make Our Schools Safe and Astronomy Club
by Samuel Tong, Assistant News Editor
Assistant Upper School Division Head Kelly Horan discusses new courses added to the 2025-2026 academic school year. Some of these included advanced topics in Chinese and math.
School Meeting 1/7: Student Directed Showcase, course selections and summer programs
by William Jiang and Leah Krupnik
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Club Corner
Med Club officer Kimi Yashar (11) acts as afflicted patient as participants collaborate to diagnose her. Members analyzed symptoms and conducted mock medical tests to reach an accurate diagnosis.
Club Corner: Medical Club hosts diagnosis simulation
by Lily Shi, News Editor • March 23, 2025

Medical Club hosted its annual Diagnosis Event, inviting students to step into the role of doctors by diagnosing diseases simulated by club officers...

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Celina Xu (11) and Victor Gong (12) prepare the baking sheet for the brownies. “I enjoy cooking because you get to see something from start to finish, and it’s a very calming process—the act of chopping or mixing things," Celina said.
Club Corner: Cooking Club de-stresses by baking brownies
by Chelsea Xie and Lily Peng
Danial Khan discusses the importance of accruing interest on savings accounts. Khan points out that knowing how to choose optimal interest plans is key to being financially literate.
Club Corner: Investment Club invites Stanford financial literacy coach
by Samuel Tong, Assistant News Editor
Adrian Ma, host of NPR's "The Indicator from Planet Money" podcast presented in a Oeconomia speaker event via Zoom. "We often respond to the news by thinking about what business-related questions we can answer that are adjacent to it so the next time the story pops up in somebody's feed, they feel a bit more informed about what it means," Ma said.
Club Corner: Oeconomia invites speaker from NPR podcast
by Cynthia Xie, Assistant A&E/Lifestyle Editor
Ayush Midha ('15) answers a student question about his choice to pursue a medical degree. His interest in healthcare systems from debate brought him to the Jain Lab of University of California, San Francisco.
Club Corner: Nexus Club features alumni debater in speaker event
by Lily Peng, Assistant News Editor
Global
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine rallies global leaders for support in his country’s grueling war against Russia at the 2024 U.N. General Assembly on Sep. 25. Besides his official address, Zelensky wanted to sell what he calls his “victory plan”, a strategy to secure Ukraine’s victory on their terms, to Western leaders and especially President Biden.
Zelensky urges western support in ongoing war with Russia
by Charlize Wang and Lily Shi • October 10, 2024

As the Russia-Ukraine war rages on after more than two years, Western involvement in the war has become critical to its outcome. Despite the...

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Finland's Foreign Affairs Minister Pekka Haavisto, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Sweden's Foreign Affairs Minister Ann Linde speak during a press conference following the two countries' signing of accession protocols to NATO. While NATO admitted Finland in nine months, Sweden was beset by obstacles that delayed its accession by another year.
Global Headlines (March 2024)
by Andrew Liang, Co-News Editor
The Panama Canal Authority cut traffic through the canal indefinitely by 36% on Jan. 17, leading to global shipping delays. An ongoing El Niño exacerbated the drought in Panama. (Provided by statemag.state.gov)
Severe drought in Panama slashes traffic in canal by a third
by Jonathan Szeto, Assistant News Editor
French President Emmanuel Macron delivered a speech to Congress about the relations between France and the United States in 2018. Macron chose Gabriel Attal as France's new Prime Minister on Jan. 9. (Provided by house.gov)
Global Headlines (January 2024)
by Aryana Bharali and Ella Guo
The Japan Self-Defense Forces scout around a damaged road, looking for an evacuation route, in the city of Wajima, Ishikawa on Jan. 6. "Some people who don't live in the area would like to help, but they don't welcome trucks or food because the roads are destroyed," Japanese teacher Noriyo Ikeda said. (Provided by the Japanese Ministry of Defense)
7.6-magnitude earthquake strikes Japan on New Year’s Day
by Jessica Hu, Assistant Copy Editor
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Humans of Harker Editor-in-Chief Disha Gupta presents the “Humans of [Your School] workshop. Presenters highlighted HoH project’s mission and went over the process of building a senior’s profile. Junior Brady Tse speaks during the class council candidates' panel session in the Rothschild Performing Arts Center. Juniors voted Brady, Janam Chahal and Claire Yu as their SAB representatives for the 2025-26 school year.A group of juniors pose before the camera near the Tech Interactive exhibits. Students commemorated their school year with a night of dancing and celebration at prom on April 19.Senior Norah Mehanna discusses her business, Curlosophy, with Director of Annual Giving Jun Wang. Curlosophy was one of nine booths that presented their products at BEcon.Junior Sofia Vasquez-Perez performs a Spanish folk dance to the song “La Madrugada”. Spanish students volunteered to perform singing and dancing acts, instrumental covers and other acts at Noche Cultural.
Students elect 2025-26 class council representatives

by Tiffany Zhu, Winged Post Editor-in-Chief

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Spirit Week Day 5: Classes unite in spirit rally, Class of 2025 wins for second consecutive year
Spirit Week Day 3: Students participate in Regatta, belly flop competitions
Students gather on the steps of Columbia University’s Low Memorial Library. The university has become a focal point of national debate over federal intervention, free speech, and protest policy.
Spirit Week Day 1: School gathers for dance performances and dodgeball
Members of the national collective Raging Grannies sang songs outside a Palo Alto Tesla showroom. They denounced Elon Musks’s proposed cuts to social security.
Juniors David Li, Caden Ruan, Stanley Chen and Kairui Sun sing at the karaoke booth outside Manzanita Hall during spirit night. Participants performed songs like “Beauty And A Beat” by Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj and “Take Me to Church” by Hozier.
Math teacher Anu Aiyer speaks about her experiences as a woman studying math. She encouraged girls to be confident in their own intelligence and academic capabilities.
Fresh produce lines the shelves of Safeway in Saratoga, featuring a variety of peppers, ginger and other vegetables. The US imported around 60% of fruits and 40% of vegetables in 2023, with Mexico supplying the majority of these imports.
Junior Suhana Bhandare plays a game of checkers with her Eagle Buddy. Students engaged in both indoor activities like card games and coloring, and outdoor games like basketball and wall ball.
Protestors held up posters which rallied for various women's rights. The freedom of choice manifested itself in many of them.
Senior Navya Samuel strikes the ending pose in the seniors’ dance to “Badtameez Dil.” Bollywood night performances included dance, singing and instrumental covers.
Junior Sofia Shah practices a technique to defend against an attack from the ground. CEO of Wushu Central Martial Arts Academy David Chang taught the class, demonstrating simple maneuvers that could prove life saving in an assault.
One of the first aircraft incidents of the year occurred in Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, marking the first deadly crash in 15 years. Since then, there have been 141 plane crashes that mainly include private rather than public flights.
Project Reboot founder Dino Ambrosi talks to students about the negative effects of excessive screen time in a LIFE assembly. To help students limit screen time, Ambrosi suggested several apps like ClearSpace and ScreenZen.
Culture Week Day 5: Performances and street-food fair
Trump plans to impose 20-25% tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico, the 3 biggest U.S. trading partners. (Source: UN Comtrade)
Ashley Dickerson (9) folds a piece of paper to make origami. The Mythology Club, Origami Club and Japanese National Honor Society held a collaborative event on Monday.
Screenshot
Culture Week Day 1: Sidewalk chalk
Senior Rithika Yamasani shows sophomore Ameera Ramzan a secret phrase during a game of charades aimed to demonstrate the importance of clear communication. Students broke into small breakout sessions focused on specific club leadership skills after lunch.
Aquila Weekly-Wrap Up: Feb. 15-21
Sophomores Jessica Chen and Brianna Madrigal follow a dance on GoNoodle. This activity ended this pajama-themed Eagle Buddies visit.
Sophomores Stellan Lindh and Vera Sorotokin taste strawberries after eating miracle berries. The fruits turn acidity in foods into sweetness by binding to sweet receptors in the mouth.
Junior Mia Tang draws on her Eagle Buddy's face with an orange pen. After the People's Circus Theatre performed, juniors and fourth graders rotated to three stations: face painting, scarf juggling, and feather balancing.
Aquila Weekly Wrap-Up: Jan. 25-31
The library and Harker Book Blog’s Bookopoly reading contest challenges students and faculty to complete a Monopoly-style game board by reading books from certain categories. Librarians and Book Blog club members aim to inspire leisure reading by offering exclusive prizes as an additional incentive.
Junior Holly Templeton performs her poem during the Poetry Out Loud contest on Jan. 27. She received an honorable mention from the judges.
Pranav Sukesh (12) reclines on a medical chair as a medical professional attends to his arm. All donors were given a $15 E-Gift Card Promo and a special edition Golden State Warriors hoodie as a gesture of gratitude.
Santana Row rally gathers protestors against Trump's presidential actions
Aquila Weekly Wrap-Up: Jan. 11-17
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