The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila
“I want to be known as someone that’s able to do my own thing, so goal-determined that I don’t let the failures stop me: someone who can take the situation and turn around to look at it from an optimistic view. I’ll just keep getting back up again and again and again," senior Rushil Jaiswal said.
Humans of Harker: Going the extra mile
“A lot of team members at Addax Games had more experience than me, so there is a lot of stuff that I don’t know as well as they do about those games. In general that would be bad, but when it comes to playtesting, that can be quite useful because not everyone who plays the game will be super experienced with board games," senior Saahil Herrero said.
Humans of Harker: Player to playtester
Humans of Harker: Charging through challenges
Humans of Harker: Charging through challenges
“It really helps to open your perspective to more topics. Especially when you're young, you tend to have a lot of prejudices against certain things that you don't like especially if someone is forcing you to do it. As I grew older and I started trying to explore things on my own, I realized that a lot of things, including learning languages, is not as bad as it seems. I think the beauty of language is that anyone who's interested enough to give it some time can do it. Language is such a fundamental aspect of everything and whatever you want to do with it, there’s infinite possibilities," senior Audrey Cheng said.
Humans of Harker: One word at a time
“I already love guitar so much, and it will be something I always have. In general, it’s made me more open. I used to be scared to try anything new, but guitar was my first demonstration that trying something new was good," senior Shivraj Panja said.
Humans of Harker: Playing with pluck
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
Irina Malyugina

Irina Malyugina, Photo Editor

Irina Malyugina (11) is the photo editor of Harker Aquila and the Winged Post. This is her third year on staff. She has a passion for visual storytelling and would love to expand her knowledge of videography this year. Outside of the journalism room, Irina enjoys computer science, dance and creative writing.
All content by Irina Malyugina
Instructor Loren Due and Melody Yazdi (12) practice a move during a capoeira session in April 2019. In addition to capoeira, after school PE class offerings include fencing, yoga, fitness for life, and after school fitness.

Registration for after school classes to fill PE credit requirement open to all grade levels

by Vishnu Kannan, Co-Managing Editor
September 4, 2021
Students of third period journalism were able to ask Representative Anna Eshoo questions. Eshoo talked about issues regarding the pandemic such as mental health and eviction moratoriums.

Congresswoman Anna Eshoo speaks to upper school journalism program with message of encouragement

by Lucy Ge, Assistant News Editor
May 22, 2020
A collection of flat lays taken to share the essential items keeping student journalists safe, healthy and happy during their time at home.

Stories from quarantine: Our pandemic essentials

by Anna Vazhaeparambil, Varsha Rammohan, and Irina Malyugina
April 20, 2020
A collection of origami designs to create. Trying out the tutorials to make these are the perfect way to keep busy during shelter-in-place.

Learning origami: A beginner’s guide to the art of paper folding

by Irina Malyugina, Photo Editor
April 17, 2020
Senior class dean Karl Kuehn takes a shot at the basket during the knock out game at last Friday's school meeting. In the game, students from all grade levels and faculty members competed for a bag of gummy worms.

School meeting recap 3/6/2020: Soccer semifinals, Downbeat performance and basketball competition

by Lucy Ge, Asst. News Editor
March 10, 2020
Head of Upper School Butch Keller prepares a biscuit for students after school meeting last week, launching an initiative.

News briefs: National Merit, biscuits and NSPA Photo Exchange

by Nicholas Wei, Alysa Suleiman, and Arushi Saxena
March 5, 2020
“Every single practice, I practiced, did what I was supposed to, and I got better. [Academics] is the same – you’re not going to get results if you don’t put in the work,” Vedanth Sundaram (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Sports and science

by Saurav Tewari, Sports Reporter
March 9, 2020
AP Government student Riva Saksena helps Shray Alag (11) turn in his ballot during fifth period on Monday. Students were able to cast their ballot for presidential candidates from all parties as well as vote on California’s Proposition 13, which regulates funding for education.

AP U.S. Government and Politics holds mock primary elections

by Nicole Tian, Co-Lifestyle Editor
March 4, 2020
“As citizens of the United States and being a part of the greater collective, it's imperative and incumbent upon all of us to be aware and present in everything that's happening because we all have a stake in it. It doesn't matter what you want to pursue in life, it's still essential to be civically engaged regardless of political affiliation,” Sriya Prathuri (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Connecting with politics

by Sriya Batchu, Reporter
March 3, 2020
The varsity boys soccer team applauds after senior Andrew Cheplansky finishes speaking about the team's accomplishments this season. The boys won against Saint Francis on Saturday, winning their first CCS championship.

School meeting recap 3/2/2020: Soccer CCS champions, kissing pigs and solving the squirrel problem

by Lucy Ge, Asst. News Editor
March 2, 2020
Director of Journalism Ellen Austin explains the fundamentals of DSLR photography to visiting journalism students from Summit High School. The Summit students arrived during lunch and stayed through third period, where they participated in a photo scavenger hunt with Harker students.

Harker journalism program hosts Summit High School journalists for photography class

by Arushi Saxena and Sara Yen
March 2, 2020
Giovanni Rofa (12), Meona Khetrapal (11), Rohan Varma (11) and Adhya Hoskote (12) deliver the Eagle Update during Tuesday's school meeting. They reviewed the results from recent games played by the girls basketball, girls soccer, boys basketball and girls basketball.

School meeting recap 2/25/2020: Popeyes, ping pong tournament, and art portfolios

by Lucy Ge, Asst. News Editor
February 27, 2020
Student council members Calais Poirson (11) and Bennett Liu (12) perform a skit on how to make sandwiches at the sandwich bar at school meeting yesterday. The sandwich bar gives students the opportunity to craft their own soy butter and jelly sandwiches after school.

School meeting recap 2/19/2020: Chef Keller, sandwiches and an abundance of Valentine’s grams

by Lucy Ge, Asst. News Editor
February 20, 2020
K-12 Production Manager Brian Larsen and Anna Arnaudova (11) prepare to have their blood drawn. Blood collected from Monday's blood drive will be sent to a Red Cross blood bank in Pomona, California to distribute to hospitals around the state.

Upper school Red Cross Club invites American Red Cross to conduct annual blood drive

by Sriya Batchu, Reporter
February 19, 2020
Roma Gandhi (12)

Annual Hoscars showcases singing, dancing and tableau talents

by Sally Zhu and Brian Chen
February 18, 2020
“I like to make things that you can touch and feel, where the piece itself is a tangible physical object and my audience [can] interact with my art. For my Shah gallery, people can push the buttons and change the colors and play with the colored shadows, where your body is the shadow and you become the art. I think that's so much more interesting than just something that you stare at or something that's very one-sided,” Ashna Reddy (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Artist by hand, enthusiast by heart

by Alysa Suleiman, Sports Reporter
February 4, 2020
Santa Clara County officially confirmed the first case of coronavirus in the county, with no additional cases being confirmed. County health officials did not reveal his name or the city in which the case was confirmed because of privacy concerns.

Santa Clara County announces first case of coronavirus – as infected person in isolation

by Eric Fang, Mark Hu, Arushi Saxena, Srinath Somasundaram, Arely Sun, and Nicole Tian
January 31, 2020
Eric Kallbrier, director of student organizations and assistant upper school activities coordinator, gives an overview of the Harker summer camp jobs. He invited past summer camp employees Emiko Armstrong (12), Griffin Cook (12), Chance Hewitt (11) and Liza Shchegrov (10) to talk about their experiences.

School meeting recap 1/24/2020: “Little Red Wagon,” Valentine’s grams, and sports senior nights

by Lucy Ge, Asst. News Editor
January 30, 2020
“What's helped me get through high school is reminding myself of my own worth. We all are good at something. I'm not necessarily the best at STEM, but I excel in my English and history courses. Everyone has some sort of strong point, so it's unnecessary to compare yourself to others,” Ayla Tanurhan (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Life follows art

by Irina Malyugina, Photo Editor
January 27, 2020
Emergency masks in the upper school office of nurse Clare Elchert. Masks like these are being used in China in public areas, where a novel coronavirus, 2019-nCoV, is rapidly spreading.

New coronavirus outbreak spreads globally, raising public health concerns

by Kathy Fang and Eric Fang
January 24, 2020
TALON yearbook editors-in-chief Emily Chen (12) and Anthony Xu (12) and TALON managing editor Shreya Srinivasan (11) announce that all yearbooks from this year onwards will be free to all students and faculty at school meeting last Friday.

School meeting recap 1/17/2020: Mercutio, Thirsty Thursday, and free yearbooks

by Lucy Ge, Asst. News Editor
January 22, 2020
Head of Upper School Butch Keller delivers a talk at school meeting about recent incidents of students using disrespectful language and racial slur. Keller presented an initiative called Challenge Day that aims to encourage diversity of perspective and break down barriers between students and faculty.

School meeting recap 1/13/2020: Eagle Update, new semester electives, and a Night of Nostalgia

by Lucy Ge, Asst. News Editor
January 14, 2020
Andrew Cheplyansky (12) controls the ball with a header during the varsity game against Leland last Wednesday. The varsity team will play Crystal Springs in an away conference game this Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.

Boys soccer ties Leland 2-2

by Lauren Liu and Irina Malyugina
January 13, 2020
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