Erica Cai (11) is the co-managing editor of Humans of Harker. This is her third year on staff. She hopes to expand her journalistic knowledge and dabble in video this school year. In her free time, she likes to experience Japanese culture and daydream about owning a cat one day.
![“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)
![“Playing football, being a DECA mentor and leading spirit rallies ... I always had a lot of fun doing it, but it was only around the second half of junior year to now where I’ve witnessed the impact that I’ve made not only to my friends but to the underclassmen I've worked with,” Rohan said. “[It's] something that I never expected but it makes it worth it,](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/rohanvarma_sabrinazhu_hoh-900x600.jpeg)
![“There's a lot of poverty in Mexico, especially the part where we went, and it really made me see that there is so much handed to me. I felt bad about having this much when [other people] couldn't, and I felt a really strong moral conflict within me when I was comprehending all this. I was still trying to figure out who I was, and … that experience really shaped my perspective on the world in a lot of ways,” Chance Hewitt (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/ChanceHewitt_SydneyTakemoto_HoHPhoto-601x900.jpg)
![“I’m really proud to be a part of a generation that cares and that wants to fight for a better future for all of us. Whenever you’re feeling down, you just be part of that community, you just listen, and you’re re-motivated and reinspired to continue the work of activism. There’s going to be resistance, there's going to be a fight, but it's a fight that we need to fight and [something] that I want to be a part of,” Natasha Yen (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/NatashaYen_EricaCai_HoHPhoto-e1613456378196-600x900.jpg)
![“We all have feelings and we all think what we think and have the perspectives that we have because of where we came from, because of our upbringing, our experiences. If we live more in the gray of the world, people would realize that there's more to a person than just what [people] disagree on,” Aditi Bharti (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/AditiBharti_EricaCai_HoHPhoto-900x600.jpg)
![“I’ve played many things, from an old lady to a little boy, [and] oftentimes, I [play] characters that are humorous or a little bit strange. You have to really be able to convey this emotion that's very personal a lot of the time ... It was a really interesting experience, just to be able to explore those emotions in a way that I hadn't really been able to before,” Maya Franz (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/MayaFranz_EricaCai_HoHPhoto-600x900.jpg)
![“A lot of people know me as the doughnut guy, but my main thing [is] kindness. The doughnuts were just a part of that. Sometimes people don’t have other people to reach out to or to get the assistance they need or the distraction they need. I want to be able to off-set the negative people in the world. It's easier to complain and be negative than be happy all the time, so I’d rather be the happy person that people can go to,](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/GriffinCrook_NinaGee_HoHPhoto-e1590769810742-601x900.jpg)
![“It's impossible to solve one problem with one dart on a target. [A problem is] so multifaceted that if you don't see the humans behind it first, then it’s impossible to solve. Whenever I see a problem that I want to fix, I want to ask myself, ‘Who are the real people behind this, and what do they need.' I think we all get this internal reward from helping somebody else, and when you connect your desire to do good with somebody that is actually affected, you can create a solution that benefits all,” Mahika Halepete (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/MahikaHalepete_AnoushakBuch-528x900.jpg)
![“Realistically, [I just want] people to remember that I helped them and made them feel happier and just better in their everyday lives,” Jack Hansen (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/JackHansen_EricaCai_HoHPhoto-e1586966160783-900x542.jpg)
![“[Archery and trumpet] have made me more open because I used to be pretty shy, and I’m still kind of shy, but it’s encouraged me to express myself in different ways and start opening up. I’ve met a lot more people than I would have, especially through the friends I have made through archery; a lot of them I wouldn’t really have known if I didn’t do the sport [since] we don’t have that much in common otherwise,” Lila Gorman (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/lilagorman_hoh_ec_9829-596x900.jpg)
![“[Playing the organ] is sort of my creative outlet. I don’t do any visual art or stuff like that, so it allows me to experiment with different types of registrations. You can arrange entire orchestral works with the organ and still capture the entire character of the piece. That’s what is most compelling about the organ,” Jeffrey Fung (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/jeffreyfunghoh_ecai_4941-900x596.jpg)
![“[Track] is just a fun time. A lot of my friends were there, and it kinda just taught me that if I work on something that I’m not good at, it’ll eventually get better. You’ll get better, but most importantly you’ll have fun,” Surya Gudapati (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/SuryaGudapati_EricaCai-600x900.jpg)
![“[Martial arts are a] different way to deal with stress instead of just keeping it inside. You get to punch bags, and you can just forget about all the other stuff and just focus on trying to win and do your best and maybe knock someone off the ground sometimes. You don’t really have to worry about the test you have tomorrow or the homework you haven’t done yet,](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/NicoleSelvaggio_EricaCai-900x600.jpg)
![Four Harker students share their stories of living and learning abroad. “You get to experience different cultures and learn more about the world through doing things rather than learning about other places at school. Even though it’s a difficult transition process, in the end, I think [living internationally] really helped me as a person,” Caden Lin (9) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/ComingHomeLogoJournalism-copy-900x877.png)
![“At Harker, every year, I just really enjoy coaching everybody, enjoy having the people around, we don’t have a lot of pains in the [butts],” Chisam said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/chisamportrait-e1550795430566-900x791.jpg)
