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
Ashley Jiang

Ashley Jiang , Winged Post Photo Editor

Ashley Jiang (11) is the photo editor for Winged Post. This is her third year in the journalism program, and she was a reporter her freshman and sophomore years. Aside from journalism, she is the media director for Interact. In her free time, she enjoys reading, doing photography, and hanging out with her friends.

All content by Ashley Jiang
Madison Tomihiro (12) hangs up one of her pieces that she drew for her portfolio. The exhibition featured art works from a total of 25 students taking the AP course.

AP Studio Art exhibition showcases artworks from students’ concentration portfolios

by Ashley Jiang, Winged Post Photo Editor
March 3, 2016
The varsity girls soccer team huddles around Layla before their senior night game. They lost to Castilleja 0-4.

Varsity girls soccer loses home game against Castilleja on senior night

by Ashley Jiang, Reporter
February 4, 2016
Charlotte "Charley" Huang (10), Jerrica Liao (10) and Jessica Wang (10) take a selfie with their Eagle Buddies. The sophomore class traveled to the lower school campus on Jan. 15 to meet with their Eagle Buddies at the culmination of the third grade's service project to collect pajamas and books.

Sophomores, juniors and seniors meet with Eagle Buddies

by Rose Guan, Reporter
January 31, 2016
Hoverboards hit the market with explosive effect

Hoverboards hit the market with explosive effect

by Ashley Jiang and Derek Yen
January 29, 2016
Academic Dean Evan Barth speaks at the annual Harker Summit. Each year, he meets with every member of the freshman class to discuss a course plan for all four years of high school.

Course selection information night preview

by Maya Kumar, Winged Post Asst. Features Editor
January 20, 2016
Junior Stephanie Scaglia prepares to throw the ball in during the team's match.

Varsity girls soccer loses 0-5 to Notre Dame

by Ashley Jiang, Reporter
January 20, 2016
Connor O’Neill passes a goal kick to his teammates.

Varsity soccer games recap: week of 1/12

by Ashley Jiang and Anjay Saklecha
January 19, 2016
Sameep Mangat (10) types on her laptop during the play "The Internet is Distract -- Oh look a kitten!" The last SDS show is tonight at 7 p.m. at the Blackford theater.

SDS premiered first show yesterday at Blackford theater

by Raveena Kapatkar and Zachary Hoffman
January 9, 2016
Lyndsey Mitchell (12) lines up for a goal kick in last year's Kicks Against Cancer game. The boys and girls soccer teams played Eastside College Prep last Friday for this year's games.

Varsity girls soccer loses first league game to Pinewood

by Ashley Jiang, Reporter
January 6, 2016
President Obama addresses underlying problems behind San Bernardino attacks

President Obama addresses underlying problems behind San Bernardino attacks

by Ashley Jiang, Rose Guan, Ria Gupta, and Anika Rajamani
December 12, 2015
Harker Summit attendees Namitha Vellian (12), Peter Connors (10) and Kobe Howard (9) discuss concerns of the student body in small groups.

Summit brings about gradual improvements

by Raveena Kapatkar and Rithika Devarakonda
November 28, 2015

GSA adviser Abel Olivas explains the club’s history

by Ashley Jiang, Reporter
November 22, 2015

Exploring identity

by Ashley Jiang, Maya Valluru, and Maya Kumar
November 22, 2015
As the audience in the background cheer for the girls, they come together in celebration after they score a point against the opponents. The girls lost 1-3 in CCS Semifinals to long time rival Menlo High School.

Varsity girls volleyball loses 3-1 to Menlo High School in CCS Semifinals

by Ashley Jiang, Winged Post Co-Photo Editor
November 19, 2015
Droplets of rain cover the statue dedicated to Jason Berry. Last Monday was the first day it rained during the school year.

Upper School reacts to first rainy day of the school year

by Megan Cardosi, Reporter
November 9, 2015
Varsity teammates cheer after they win the point. The team defeated Mercy Burlingame on their senior night game.

Varsity girls volleyball defeats Mercy Burlingame on senior night

by Ashley Jiang, Winged Post Photo Editor
November 7, 2015
Jacqueline Chen (12) and Lindsey Trinh (11) block a hit from the opposing side. The varsity girls' volleyball lost to Menlo today.

Varsity girls volleyball loses to Menlo School

by Ashley Jiang and Gloria Guo
October 23, 2015
Arben Gutierrez (11) speaks at the Harker Summit. The event brought together students to discuss ways to improve the environment and community.

Student representatives meet for annual Harker Summit

by Kaitlin Hsu and Aneesha Kumar
October 17, 2015
Miranda Larsen (10) paints the sophomore class eagle. The sophomores got fourth place for their eagle during spirit week.

Classes paint float and eagle during Spirit Night

by Maya Valluru and Ashley Jiang
October 18, 2015
Homecoming King Edward Sheu (12) and Ray Song (11) dance together at the Homecoming Dance. Ray was one of 45 juniors attending the dance.

SAT conflict reduces Homecoming dance attendance

by Meilan Steimle and Tiffany Wong
October 18, 2015
Senior Helena Dworak prepares to throw the ball during the varsity girls water polo game. The Eagles lost the match 1-10.

Varsity girls water polo loses to Cupertino High

by Ashley Jiang, Photo Editor
October 16, 2015
Arben Gutierrez-Bujari (11) shares his ideas and opinions to the rest of the students. Student representatives will discuss the topics covered during the Harker Summit with their advisories on Oct. 7.

Students take part in the Harker Summit

by Ashley Jiang, Winged Post Photo Editor
September 25, 2015
Morgan Douglas (10) and Karena Kong (10) play on their phones after school is over. The iPhone 6s and 6s+ come out in stores on Sept. 25.

iPhone 6S and 6S Plus released with new features

by Ashley Jiang
September 17, 2015
The Wujing coal-fired power plant in Shanghai emits harmful carbon dioxide into the air. Obama's Clean Power Plan aims to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions by 32 percent by 2030.

Obama announces Clean Power Plan

by Ashley Jiang, Winged Post Photo Editor
September 1, 2015
Matthew McCallaCreary (10) completes a ropes course activity by balancing himself to cross a tightrope. The sophomore class trip was held on Aug. 20.

Juniors and sophomores take rapids and ropes

by Kshithija Mulam and Ashley Jiang
August 31, 2015
Jazz Band performed "Polka Dots and Moonbeams" by Frank Sinatra. The senior goodbye rally was held on Thursday.

Farewell to the seniors

by Ashley Jiang, Reporter
May 23, 2015

iShoot

by Praveen Batra and Ashley Jiang
May 18, 2015
Stephanie Huang (11), Ankur Karwal (11), and Edward Sheu (11) pose for a picture. All three will be members of the Class of 2016 student council.

New student council members announced

by Maya Jeyendran and Lauren Russell
May 14, 2015
Priscilla Pan (12) cradles the the ball during Varsity Lacrosse's game against Santa Catalina. They won 20-5.

Varsity girls’ lacrosse cradles their efforts to victory against Santa Catalina

by Ashley Jiang and Emma Yu
May 6, 2015
Ishanya Anthapur (12) and Rahul Jayaraman (12) examine a piece of art hanging on the wall during the Artstravaganza exhibit in Nichols. The Artstravaganza le Deuxième was held yesterday during long lunch in the Nichols Atrium.

Art and English department host Artstravaganza le Deuxième

by Trisha Dwivedi and Ashley Jiang
May 1, 2015
Eesha Chona (11), David Jin (11), Abhinav Ketineni (11) and Jasmine Liu (11) prepare for the Public Forum TOC by holding a practice debate outside Manzanita.

Debaters prepare for Tournament of Champions at the University of Kentucky

by Aditya Varshney and Ashley Jiang
April 29, 2015
The Uber home page displays a promotion the different options of transportation. Uber is a mobile transportation app that allows people to send ride requests to specified vehicles.

Uber faces uproar from services

by Meena Gudapati and Ashley Jiang
April 16, 2015
CONTEST PREP Computer science teacher Susan King talks to members of the Programming Club about the upcoming ProCo contest. The club organizes the annual programming competition by gathering sponsor funding for the event.

ready set CODE

by Praveen Batra and Ashley Jiang
March 18, 2015
The freshmen class listen to Janda talk about the importance of one’s identity, and privileges and opportunities. The LIFE assembly was held for the freshmen today during the assembly meeting period.

Janda and Muldrew hold LIFE assembly for freshmen

by Ashley Jiang, Reporter
March 14, 2015

Harker to hold annual Programming Invitational this Sunday

by Praveen Batra and Ashley Jiang
March 13, 2015

Flashback to the Fashion Show

by Ashley Jiang, Reporter
February 20, 2015
Google’s new driverless car cruises through the streets, using the sensor array mounted on the roof to steer. The car is equipped with manual controls to comply with California state law.

Updated Google driverless cars hit the road

by Ashley Jiang and Meena Gudapati
January 29, 2015
Choral concert features Bel Canto, Cantilena, Camerata and Guy’s Gig

Choral concert features Bel Canto, Cantilena, Camerata and Guy’s Gig

by Ashley Jiang, Reporter
November 17, 2014
A defensive player from the Harker Varsity football goes to tackle his opponent who was running the ball. Harker won the game 64-40 against Emery High School yesterday night.

Varsity football defeats Emery High School

by Ashley Jiang and Emma Yu
October 25, 2014
A VIOLIN FOR THE CENTURIES: Concertmaster Frank Almond holds the famous 1715 Lipinski Stradivarius violin. He will be performing in the first Concert Series of the year on Friday.

Frank Almond performs a Stradivarius’ life

by Ashley Jiang, Reporter
October 23, 2014
Elizabeth Edwards (11) greets an incoming student as she and other athletes hold signs and wave pom-poms during the Curbside Crazy Event. The event is held to help support the construction of the new Events center.

Curbside Crazy event supports new gym and events center

by Kacey Fang and Ashley Jiang
September 20, 2014
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