The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila
“Working on Roobi has taught me how to bounce back from failures, and that problems need to be addressed one bit at a time because you can't just tackle huge goals. I learned to not be afraid of failure because every failure is a step towards success. I try not to look back and wish I could change something because I can't. It's the past. Instead, I look forward," senior Daniel Dorfman said.
Humans of Harker: Steeped for success
“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
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

Darren Gu, TALON Photo Editor

Darren Gu is a junior and the Photo Editor for TALON Yearbook. This is his third year on staff. In his free time, Darren enjoys exploring the city at night, listening to music, and hiking / climbing trees.

All content by Darren Gu
“Even when it's the 15th time you've done the scene, it's still a new experience and there're still new things to be discovered,” Maxwell Woehrmann (12) said. “You can always strive for better during rehearsal and finally when it comes to the show, just a seconds before I go on stage. That's why I do theater, it's for the seconds before I go on stage because I feel very alive. You're so aware. You're full of adrenaline. Your fight or flight response is kicking in, and you're about to go on stage and cannot forget your lines. It's very intense and I've learned to kind of crave the anxiety that comes with performing.”

Humans of Harker: Maxwell Woehrmann acts incisively

by Laura Wu and Kathy Fang
June 13, 2018
"I think we're all drawn to life in some way or another because it's organic and because it's not structured and it's just very honest and pure in itself," Darren Gu (12) said. "That wildness — that untamed craziness, that passion — is the sublime."

Humans of Harker Video: Darren Gu revels in the sublime

by Heidi Zhang and Melissa Kwan
April 26, 2018
Instrumental music teacher and director of the upper school orchestra Chris Florio stands with the ensemble at the end of one of their pieces for the collaboration concert with the Santa Monica High School Wind Symphony. The upper school orchestra will be traveling to Chicago from March 29 to April 2 to perform at the Chicago International Music Festival.

Upper school orchestra to perform at Chicago International Music Festival

by Karina Chen and Kat Zhang
March 26, 2018
Florio and the upper school orchestra bow at the end of one of their pieces. “The big thing was to kind of get a feeling for how the theater sounds when it’s set up for instrumental performance, how long it takes to transport our instruments down the stage, things like that. It was a great opportunity to test all those things out; the next time we go in won’t be nearly as challenging. That goal was definitely met," Florio said.

Evening melodies: Harker hosts An Evening of Jazz and Santa Monica concerts at Rothschild Performing Arts Center

by Saloni Shah, Reporter
March 29, 2018
“One of the biggest events in my life was when my parents got divorced,” Markus Wong (12) said. “I've always wanted to improve myself — it's kind of a common theme in my life. I was never satisfied with just being mediocre. When my parents got divorced, I thought it was the worst thing in the world. It was at that point that I was thinking to myself, 'Why do bad things happen to me, even though I'm trying so hard?' That kind of started a long journey of realizing that stuff like that will happen, but you have to learn how to be the bigger person. You can't let things consume you.”

Humans of Harker: Markus Wong reflects on his dual nature

by Irina Malyugina, Reporter
March 3, 2018
Avi Gulati (10) acts out his interpretation of the monologue Edgar delivers as he escapes the hunt in "King Lear." As the winner of the upper school's competition, Avi will be competing at the regional level of the National Shakespeare Competition in San Francisco on March 3.

Annual school National Shakespeare Competition features student performances of play monologues

by Darren Gu, TALON Sports Editor
February 22, 2018
“‘Stand tall and proud. Sink your roots into the earth. Be content with your natural beauty. Go out on a limb. Drink plenty of water. Remember your roots, and enjoy the view!’” Some of the ideas here embodying confidence and not being afraid to try new things, is something that I wanted to experience when I went into high school, and I feel like I’ve successfully done that. When I look at this poster—the reason I have it over my bed and always in my direct view—is to remember: Don’t be scared, because someone out there really believes in you,” Sumati Wadhwa (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Sumati Wadhwa reflects on the human condition

by Darren Gu, TALON Sports Editor
October 20, 2017
Junior Bobby Bloomquist looks for an opportunity to score against Palo Alto High School. He successfully scored one goal in the third quarter.

Varsity boys water polo loses to Palo Alto High School

by Sara Yen, Reporter
October 11, 2017
“Corrie ten Boom once said, ‘When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away your ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.’ When I feel like life’s got me backed up against a wall, I do get stressed out. But, the basis of my eventual recover is that I know God loves me. I know his plan may have a lot of detours, but I know he has one for me and everyone else. I believe in Catholicism, but no matter what you believe it, if you believe in something, don’t be afraid to practice that belief. Don’t be afraid to tell people about your beliefs and passions because why not express to someone else what is most important to you?” Alex Youn (’17) said.

Humans of Harker: Alex Youn is passionate about his faith

by Rashmi Iyer, Reporter
May 29, 2017
“I am an extreme person, and I like to be in the right or left side of the spectrum. For the right side I like to be in complete solitude. It’s where I feel one with myself, as if I’m the only entity there. For the left side, I like to be in an industrial and urban setting, like in the middle of NYC. It’s not that you are meaningless, but that you are a part of the crowd of people,” Varun Baldwa (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Varun Baldwa helps others through volunteering

by Darren Gu, TALON Photo Editor
May 8, 2017
“This one time, this lady turned around, and afterwards, as I was wheeling her away, tears were in her face, and she was saying thank you for something so simple as pushing her down and up a certain pathway. It made me more perceptive to all the privileges that I have that a lot of people don’t have. It just makes me have a more positive outlook towards life, just seeing that I need to appreciate more what I have and not mope around as much as I did before,” Joseph Krackeler (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Joseph Krackeler immerses himself in his faith

by Darren Gu, TALON Photo Editor
May 2, 2017
“Every evening when I go to the corner of my living room and sing, I kind of feel an unexplainable joy. It’s something where I’m trying to find the depth and soul of the music and express it in my own way, in a way that really can’t be said in numbers or words. It’s utterly irrational, but I think that if the world were rational, we probably wouldn’t need music, because it expresses something that nothing else can convey," Arjun Subramaniam (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Arjun Subramaniam pursues Indian classical singing and research

by Derek Yen, STEM Editor
March 20, 2017
“For a while, I was really fascinated with beehives. I have always loved hexagons and how they look, so I went through a design phase where everything was based around honeycombs. [I] spent a lot of time learning and messing with how to raise bees and how to make hives and then taking all that information and putting it into design aspects," Davis Dunaway (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Davis Dunaway designs furniture

by Darren Gu, TALON Photo Editor
October 10, 2016
Tiffany Shou (11) prepares to hit the ball. The girls' volleyball team lost to Homestead High School 2-3.

Varsity girls volleyball loses against Homestead High School in season-opener

by Jenna Sadhu, Reporter
August 27, 2016
Students show the red side of their cards to answer no to a question asked by the Piece-It-Together presenters in the Nichols Auditorium. The presenters used a variety of techniques to explain abusive relationships and how to deal with them.

Sophomores attend LIFE session on abusive relationships

by Vignesh Panchanatham, Reporter
March 11, 2016
Senior Luke Wu prepares to hit the volleyball during the team's game yesterday. They lost a close matchup against Lynbrook High 2-3.

Varsity boys volleyball loses close game 2-3 to Lynbrook High

by Darren Gu, TALON Photo Editor
March 9, 2016

Students and faculty dress up to celebrate Halloween

by Catherine Huang and Darren Gu
October 31, 2015
Human Power Project CEO Ross Szabo gave a presentation on mental health. The presentation took place today morning in the gym.

Ross Szabo speaks to upper school students about mental health

by Michael Sikand, Reporter
October 29, 2015
Beneath the Skin (right) has a darker attitude than Of Monsters and Men’s debut album, My Head is an Animal. Beneath the Skin was released in Iceland on June 8th.

Beneath the Skin by Of Monsters and Men – 4/5 stars

by Darren Gu, TALON Asst. Photo Editor
September 19, 2015
Christian Williams ('15), Zoe Woehrmann ('15) and Felix Wu ('15) make their way down to their seats at the bottom of the stage at the beginning of the ceremony. The graduation ceremony took place today at the Saratoga mountain winery.

Class of 2015 graduates at Saratoga’s Mountain Winery

by Elisabeth Siegel, Winged Post Editor in Chief
May 23, 2015
Ronak Baldua (11) prepares to hit. The final score was 7-0.

Boys’ varsity tennis defeats Priory to maintain their undefeated record

by Darren Gu, Reporter
March 13, 2015
Varsity football and cheer honor seniors in last home game of the season

Varsity football and cheer honor seniors in last home game of the season

by Justin Su and Darren Gu
November 15, 2014
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