Alysa Suleiman, Aquila Co-Editor-in-Chief
Alysa Suleiman (12) is the co-editor-in-chief of Harker Aquila. This is her fourth year on staff, and she previously served as Aquila’s first A&E editor, a sports reporter and a staff reporter. Alysa especially loves photojournalism and social justice reporting, and she feels the happiest working with the staff to make every new story pitch come to life. When she’s not editing an article or chasing down sources, Alysa enjoys competitive fencing, attempting new recipes and obsessing over BookTok.
![“[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.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DSC_8149-900x604.jpg)
![“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.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-25-at-9.50.05-AM-900x594.png)
![“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.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Screen-Shot-2017-06-03-at-4.54.16-PM.png)
![“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.”](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/DSC5146-900x601.jpg)
![“[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.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AnnaGert_JinTuan_HoHPhotoEdited-600x900.jpeg)
![“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.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AlyssaHuang_EmilyChen_HoHPhoto-900x749.jpeg)
![“I like to make things that you can touch and feel, where the piece itself is a tangible physical object and my audience [can] interact with my art. For my Shah gallery, people can push the buttons and change the colors and play with the colored shadows, where your body is the shadow and you become the art. I think that's so much more interesting than just something that you stare at or something that's very one-sided,” Ashna Reddy (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/AshnaReddy_IrinaMalyugina_HoHPhoto-900x675.png)
![Members of the girls soccer team cheer on the boys during their comeback win last Wednesday against Sacred Heart. “It’s my second time watching. The first time I had a lot of fun, and it was a really close game too. We [have] a good group of guys and it's fun to support the kids who are in my math class and see them work hard on the field.” said Arjun Virmani (11).](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/BoysSoccer1.22.20_AlysaSuleiman_8262-copy-900x611.jpg)
![“I've definitely used [my different community perspective] in terms of my friends by exposing them to Lebanese culture. I always have them try my food, I have them come to the Lebanese festival I have every year, I teach them how to dance because a lot of what Lebanese people are known for is ‘Lebanese hospitality.’ I definitely think my family and my culture has introduced these values of generosity and compassion to me,” Grace Hajjar (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/GraceHajjar_AlysaSuleiman_HoHPhoto-900x601.jpg)
