The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

Erica Cai

Erica Cai, HoH Co-Editor-in-Chief

Erica Cai (12) is the co-editor-in-chief of Humans of Harker, and this is her fourth year on staff. Her goals in journalism this year are to celebrate each and every member of the Class of 2022 and to foster a welcoming community for the cubs and reporters. Some of her favorite things include her cat Taro, her DAY6 photocard and fuzzy blankets. In her free time, she enjoys (badly) karaoke-ing to Korean and Japanese pop rock songs.

All content by Erica Cai

“For both theater and ballet, you have a set of guidelines: for dance, its choreography, and for theater, thats your script. But in both, your role is to make those things feel like your own. Youre fully embodying the character and making it seem completely organic. You take your own interpretation of the piece and make small artistic decisions to make it fully what you feel is true to the character or the idea youre trying to convey, Arely Sun (22) said.

Humans of Harker: Stage magic

by Erica Cai, HoH Editor-in-Chief
July 16, 2022
“It’s the mind bending things that I’m really passionate about, the things where youre like, ‘I have no idea why this happens, but I want to figure that out.’ It’s a genuine, ‘I don’t get it, but I want to.’ Or perhaps it’s [that] I don’t want to never understand it. I don’t want to have a topic that I dont understand and never understand it, Spencer Cha (22) said.

Humans of Harker: Mind bender, music maker

by Erica Cai, HoH Editor-in-Chief
July 14, 2022
Alex Liou (12) sprints to the finish at the Artichoke Invitational cross country meet on Oct. 2.

Weekly Previews: Oct. 25-29

by Desiree Luo, Asst. Sports Editor
October 24, 2021
Rigo Gonzales (11) sprints during the Artichoke Invitational cross country meet on Oct. 2.

Weekly Previews: Oct. 18-22

by Desiree Luo, Assistant Sports Editor
October 18, 2021
Junior Rigo Gonzales pushes up a hill during the Ram Invitationals varsity boys race at Westmoor High school. The varsity boys raced at 3:30 p.m., following the JV boys at 1:30 p.m. and the varsity girls at 2:30 p.m.

Cross country team participates in second meet of the season

by Erica Cai, Humans of Harker co-Editor-in-Chief
September 26, 2021
Ericas cat Taro peers curiously over the edge of the dining table. Domestic cats behavior has adapted in a way that diverges from their ancestors just to be with humans.

Cat supremacy: Allow me to purr-suade you

by Erica Cai, Humans of Harker co-Editor-in-Chief
September 21, 2021
“Having diversity in perspective is so important. The person who I’ve become from blending STEM and the humanities is someone with a broad perspective on life. When you combine the two, you can approach STEM problems with a creativity that you get from writing or from talking to people from various backgrounds. These challenges have been here for centuries, but maybe a new perspective is all you need,” Saloni Shah (12) said.

Humans of Harker: One story at a time

by Erica Cai, Humans of Harker Co-Managing Editor
June 2, 2021
“Philosophy and fiction make a beautiful couple. There are a lot of philosophers who are notoriously dry, but their ideas are incredibly interesting. If you can package those ideas in a more digestible and more interesting way, then why wouldn’t you? I often try and aim to do that. Humans are creatures of stories, they’d rather have a story of that idea put into action, and that’s the beauty of how fiction serves philosophy,” Sophia Gottfried (12) said.

Humans of Harker: A beautiful blend of philosophy and fiction

by Erica Cai, Humans of Harker Co-Managing Editor
April 23, 2021
“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, theres going to be a fight, but its a fight that we need to fight and [something] that I want to be a part of,” Natasha Yen (12) said.

Humans of Harker: The fight is ours

by Erica Cai, Humans of Harker Co-Managing Editor
February 16, 2021
“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 theres more to a person than just what [people] disagree on,” Aditi Bharti (12) said. 

Humans of Harker: Looking past the black and white

by Smrithi Sambamurthy, TALON Asst. Business Manager
January 27, 2021
Celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day at the upper school is integral to promoting racial equity within our community. Especially at the upper school level, learning about Dr. King’s legacy in a thorough and informed manner allows students to better understand America’s history of racism and examine the nuances of bridging the racial divide of today.

Learning from legacy

by Erica Cai, Humans of Harker Managing Editor
January 19, 2021
The biggest underlying message [of my filmmaking is] the message of unity. The films might not be Oscar worthy or cinematic masterpieces, but since its documented, I think Im going to have a lot of fun looking back on it and seeing us together and making the film together, Ethan Choi (12) said. 

Humans of Harker: The American dream

by Erica Cai, Humans of Harker Co-Managing Editor
December 22, 2020
“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 thats 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 hadnt really been able to before,” Maya Franz (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Sliding into the spotlight

by Erica Cai, Humans of Harker Co-Managing Editor
December 3, 2020
Speak with the goal of making your voice heard, not with the goal of changing someone’s opinions. Speak with the facts at the forefront, not emotions. Speak with a clear message and listen with an open mind.

Politics over dinner

by Erica Cai, Humans of Harker Managing Editor
November 2, 2020
“I feel like volunteering is always important. I know Harker has the volunteering requirements, but honestly if they didn’t have that, I would still be volunteering because it’s just helping your community, which is something I’m passionate about. I want to work in the medical field when I’m older, which is also helping people, and I just feel like they fit together well,” Sophie Durn (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Always there for you

by Isha Moorjani, Winged Post Asst. News Editor
November 2, 2020
“Dance is a bit easier to deal with that anxiety because I just put all that energy into the movement that Im doing, but for music, you have to really control it and thats still hit or miss for me. What helped me was when I moved over to horn and playing in the orchestra. Theres a bit of added pressure because I knew that people depended on me, but at the same time, it was less. It felt comforting to know that my friends were there to support me also,” Kai-Ming Ang (12) said.

Humans of Harker: The humble artist

by Irene Yuan, Asst. Photo Editor
May 11, 2020
“I want to save lives, and I think thats the base requirement for anyone who wants to go into medicine. But I also do love the sciences – I love the art of the diagnosis, how medicine is just a mixing pot of ideas. You need to take so many aspects of life, you need to understand so many parts of the human experience, of the human body to try to diagnose and try to treat a patient. Medicine is the care of people, not diseases,” Simar Bajaj (12) said.

Humans of Harker: To help, to heal

by Erica Cai, Humans of Harker Profiler
April 21, 2020
“Volleyball has taught me a lot of discipline in that since middle school, I’ve grown in a team environment so that there’s this team culture of everyone always trying their hardest and maintaining high expectations for everyone around them. There’s also a sense that we won’t let each other down in terms of effort and drive. I’ve definitely dedicated a lot more time and it has become my main sport and main activity so in terms of skill, I’ve definitely developed a lot, but through volleyball I’ve learned a lot of maturity and dedication,” Emily Cheng (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Setting connections

by Irene Yuan, Asst. Photo Editor
April 7, 2020
“I’m always working towards building something better. I’m always interested in looking around and trying to find solutions that may not be obvious to other people and trying to build on them. I don’t necessarily have anything in mind right now, but I definitely want to continue building and exploring new ideas,” Arnav Joshi (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Ready, set, hack!

by Erica Cai, Humans of Harker Profiler
April 4, 2020
“I would say I am not at all somebody who thinks in the long term. If I had to define a goal that I think is even possible for me to follow or that I would even be interested in pursuing is just to never be bored, stave off boredom,” Vani Mohindra (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Grasp the nettles

by Gloria Zhang, Winged Post Editor-in-Chief
February 24, 2020
“[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.

Humans of Harker: Bullseye

by Erica Cai, Humans of Harker Profiler
January 21, 2020
“I’m not like one of those people who has a core set of values or tenets of who I am. I feel like I just do what I do, and I am who I am in the moment. I don’t adhere to anything,” Jai Bahri (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Quirks and all

by Erica Cai, Humans of Harker Profiler
January 17, 2020
“[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.

Humans of Harker: “Musica laetificat cor”

by Erica Cai, Humans of Harker Profiler
October 22, 2019
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