The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila
“With volleyball and Medical Club, I love working with people. I get to work with people who aren't necessarily in my classes or aren't my friends specifically, but we get to work hard and work together towards a common goal. That collaboration aspect is really important to me," senior Navya Samuel said.
Humans of Harker: Cooperation through competition
“Human connection is very important to staying grounded and stable. The people around me are one of the reasons that I'm not fully burnt out, so I really prioritize keeping a good schedule for myself. Being able to prioritize the things in life that give me internal satisfaction is important to me because that's what allows me to have the drive to do good with the rest of my time. Talking to people is a way for me to replenish," senior Kashish Priyam said.
Humans of Harker: Pep in every step
“It's very important to make sure the people in your life know they're important to you. Whether that's doing small acts of kindness or just being there whenever they need you, having a really strong support system is what gets you through life, and it's a really valuable life skill to have," Sofie Marino (12) said.
Humans of Harker: Pillar of support
“My karate teachers emphasize that as black belts, we should be living up to the standard of our rank and acting as an example for the students who are lower-ranked.' When I’m helping out and someone messes up, I don't necessarily say, ‘You did this wrong, try to do this.’ I take a more relaxed approach and act out what they did a little comically. It's finding the balance between being strict and being more playful with the students," senior Claire Perng said.
Humans of Harker: Playing with purpose
“I have the ability to convey my opinions and ideas through art, which in my opinion, is the most powerful tool I have because not everyone has it. It requires me to, first of all, have an opinion or thought, and second of all, be able to convey it with this medium. Together, that is the strongest calling for an artist," senior Eva Li said.
Humans of Harker: Artistry in abstraction
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

Anna Vazhaeparambil, Editor-in-Chief

Anna Vazhaeparambil (12) is the co-editor-in-chief of Harker Aquila. This is her fourth year on staff, and she hopes to grow as a reporter and photographer. In her free time, she enjoys reading, playing lacrosse and spending time with her family and friends.
All content by Anna Vazhaeparambil
Running back Devin Keller (12) evades a defensive player as he carries the ball downfield during the Eagles matchup against Burton High on Aug. 30. The Eagles lost 57-22.

Weekly Recap: Fall sports come out swinging

by Anna Vazhaeparambil, Aquila Co-Sports Editor
September 2, 2019
Billy Fan (11) reaches for a ball in the first set.

Harker awarded CalHi D4 School of the Year

by Aditya Singhvi, Aquila Co-Sports Editor
August 30, 2019
Teresa Cai (10) conducts a chemistry experiment under a fume hood at UCSC. Sixteen Harker students participated in the Summer Internship Program.

Science internship introduces high schoolers to research

by Anna Vazhaeparambil and Muthu Panchanatham
August 30, 2019
Presidential Hopeful Bernie Sanders raises concerns about economic injustices. He pledged to combat large corporations if elected president.

Candidates face off in debates over the summer

by Anna Vazhaeparambil, Sports Editor
August 28, 2019
Scented handmade floral soaps line a vendor’s cart at Covent Garden. Multiple other shops lined the courtyard.

Moments of London: A walk through my memories

by Nicole Tian
June 18, 2019
The Thames Riverfront in London.

Humans of London: Life along the riverfront

by Anna Vazhaeparambil, Co-Sports Editor
June 18, 2019
Eleven students traveled with director of journalism Ellen Austin to London for ten days of photography course and practice.

Harker journalism lands in London to attend photography course, report on street life

by Anna Vazhaeparambil and Esha Gohil
June 18, 2019
Facilities director Mike Bassoni posed on a pathway in the landscaping in front of the Rothschild Performing Arts Center. Bassoni played a key role in the landscaping’s development, providing input on its design.

Building a community from the ground up

by Arely Sun, Esha Gohil, Alysa Suleiman, and Anna Vazhaeparambil
June 10, 2019

Sanders, Castro and Delaney join Democratic presidential candidates at CDP

by Eric Fang, Kathy Fang, and Anna Vazhaeparambil
June 2, 2019
Meghna Phalke (’19) poses with a Kamala Harris poster during the afternoon General Assembly on Saturday. “Students are the generation that are up and coming; we are the generation that is going to make the difference,” Meghna said.

Blue Wave Rolling: Democratic presidential hopefuls reach out to voters in California Democratic State Convention

by Eric Fang, Kathy Fang, Arushi Saxena, and Anna Vazhaeparambil
June 1, 2019
“It's not enough to just do science. You also need to understand its implications and communicate that to people. No matter how much you try to pigeonhole yourself and say, ‘oh, I'm a STEM kid and all I want to do is study science,’ which is probably something I've been tempted to think in the past, you really can't just ignore the fact that the world is much bigger than that, and what you do will have an impact on others," Kat Tian ('19) said.

Humans of Harker: Defying limits

by Anna Vazhaeparambil, Asst. Sports Editor
May 30, 2019
Juniors Simar Bajaj and Jai Bahri read the program, waiting for the ceremony to begin. At Baccalaureate, the school welcomes the rising seniors to be the future leaders on campus next year.

Seniors and juniors celebrate close of school year with annual Baccalaureate ceremony

by Erica Cai and Anna Vazhaeparambil
May 23, 2019
The boys' volleyball team poses with the NorCal Division 1 runner-up trophy.

Live coverage: Boys volleyball takes on Monta Vista in NorCal finals

by Aditya Singhvi, Anna Vazhaeparambil, and Shreya Srinivasan
May 18, 2019
“Sometimes I pick up my phone and I get sound bytes of footsteps or the wind blowing through leaves, things that happen around you [that] you don’t see without a camera. I like taking photos or making videos and putting my vision into these things because I really want to share them with others and make people feel something when [they] see it," Heidi Zhang (12) said.

Humans of Harker: On the sidelines and in the game

by Anna Vazhaeparambil, Nicole TIan, and Katherine Zhang
May 17, 2019
From left to right, Bryan Zhang (10), Bowen Yin (10), Gabriel Yang (10), Ashwin Rammohan (12), Jaiman Bhagat (11) and Bradley Lu (12) pose for a photo at the CCS Regionals on May 7. The team placed fourth overall at regionals.

Boys golf ends successful season at CCS championships

by Anna Vazhaeparambil, Asst. Sports Editor
May 17, 2019
Jarett Anderson (12) hits during the second set of the game against Bellarmine.

Live coverage: Boys Volleyball takes on Bellarmine in NorCal semifinals

by Aditya Singhvi, Sports Editor
May 16, 2019
The boys team huddles up ahead of their NorCal quarterfinal game against Carmel, which they won 25-20, 26-24, 25-13.

Boys volleyball clutches win over Northgate, advances in NorCals

by Anna Vazhaeparambil, Asst. Sports Editor
May 14, 2019
Anna Vazhaeparambil (10) cradles the ball as she runs past a defender, aiming for the opponents’ goal in the semifinals. The girls lost 9-6 to Woodside.

Lacrosse closes out another league championship season

by Anna Vazhaeparambil, Asst. Sports Editor
May 12, 2019
Jeffery Kwan hits the ball during the CCS championship match against the Carmel Padres. The match was held at St. Francis High School today.

Boys volleyball wins CCS Division 3, overpowers Carmel

by Aditya Singhvi, Sports Editor
May 11, 2019
Varsity team captain Bryan Zhang (10) putts the ball during the league championship decider against Menlo on April 25. Bryan received his first career medalist honors, shooting a personal best of one under par.

Spring sports hit the home stretch

by Anna Vazhaeparambil, Asst. Sports Editor
May 9, 2019
Ann Ryan (9) sells ancient Roman honey cookies during Latin National Honor Society’s Club Week.

Language clubs honor international cultures

by Alysa Suleiman, Jessie Wang, and Irene Yuan
April 26, 2019
“Dance allows me to access a creative side of [myself] that I don't usually get to experience when [I’m] in this routine of school and homework and tests and studying all the time,” Aditi Anthapur (12) said. “I think it pushes me in a different way, rather than how schoolwork pushes me to study harder. This pushes me to improve myself because I want to, not because I'm being set against other people.”

Humans of Harker: Flexible to change

by Anna Vazhaeparambil, Reporter
April 22, 2019
Anton Novikov (10) and Mitchell Granados (12) run in the first heat of the boys 100m dash finals. Anton won the race, with Mitchell coming in third.

Weekly Roundup: Spring sports clear the competition

by Anna Vazhaeparambil, Asst. Sports Editor
April 21, 2019
The team lines up with letters taped to their backs that spell out “KAISHANT BEAST MODE FOREVER” to honor the two seniors. “Our two seniors have been just massive on the team, just massive supporters and great players. They definitely know how to conduct themselves on and off the court,” assistant coach Mike Nguyen said. “[This is] the culmination of their high school experience and its just one of those crucial times where they transition to college.”

Tennis team honors seniors, defeats Pinewood

by Aditya Singhvi and Anna Vazhaeparambil
April 21, 2019
Taylor Lam (12) throws a ball to second base in a game against El Camino High. The Eagles won the game 14-11.

Weekly roundup: Spring teams keep the ball rolling

by Anna Vazhaeparambil, Asst. Sports Editor
April 16, 2019
Luke Wancewicz (10) hits the ball against Westmoor. With two wins this week, the Eagles increased their league record to 4-1 and their overall record to 7-3.

Weekly roundup: Spring sports knock competition out of park

by Anna Vazhaeparambil, Reporter
April 3, 2019
Trevor Thompson (12) steps up to bat, preparing for the pitch to be thrown. Despite their Friday game being cancelled, the Eagles still played well during the match, with strategic hits from freshman Bobby Wang and senior Zachary Hoffman and a dive for home base by junior Max Lee.

Weekly roundup: Spring sports approach hurdles

by Anna Vazhaeparambil, Reporter
March 26, 2019
A supporter holds up a heart during Sanders' speech at the rally.

“Not me, us”: Bernie Sanders calls for unity, anti-corporate reform at San Francisco rally

by Kathy Fang, Managing Editor
March 24, 2019
“At this point, it's kind of hard to define what my comfort zone is because I don't spend much time in it. I'm known for just going for things,” Cedric Nowatzyk (12) said. “I don't hesitate, and I feel like the idea of a comfort zone hasn't really been applied to me for a while, since I can hold true to statement that I've never had an idea that I wouldn't just chase immediately.”

Humans of Harker: Passion beyond expectation

by Anna Vazhaeparambil, Reporter
March 18, 2019
Andrew Chang (10) swims during the swim meet on Thursday. Matthew placed first in the 200 meter and 500 meter freestyle.

Weekly roundup: Week of March 11

by Anna Vazhaeparambil, Reporter
March 17, 2019
Students play in the Japanese National Honor Society (JNHS) Super Smash Bros. Ultimate video game tournament on Friday of their club week. JNHS organized thee tournament and sold traditional Japanese snacks throughout the week.

Language National Honor Societies host joint club week

by Anna Vazhaeparambil, Reporter
March 15, 2019
Junior Jack Hansen hits the ball during a doubles match against Menlo on Friday, Mar 8.  The boys tennis team is currently 2-1 in league, as they prepare to host King’s Academy on Mar 11 at 4:15 p.m.

Sophomore Betsy Tian swims laps in the pool during swimming practice on Wednesday. After a strong performance at the Palo Alto Invitational on Saturday, Mar 2, the swimming team continues training for their next tournament on Mar 14, hosted at Harker.

Harker swimmers attend practice on Mar. 6. After a strong performance at the Palo Alto Invitational on Saturday, Mar 2, the swimming team continues training for their next tournament on Mar. 14.

Weekly roundup: Spring sports kick off with a splash

by Anna Vazhaeparambil, Reporter
March 10, 2019
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