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
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
Alexander Young (12) shakes his ballot into a ballot box during the mock midterms last Thursday. AP U.S. Government teacher Carol Green and students hosted a mock midterm election Thursday to encourage students to vote.

Mock midterm election lets students experience voting

by Ryan Guan, Executive News Editor
October 24, 2018
Evan Bourke (10) buys ice cream in a cup from the Twisted Chill ice cream truck after school today. Lines wrapped around the truck in the first few minutes after school.

Students beat the heat as ice cream truck visits campus

by Ryan Guan and Kathy Fang
October 21, 2018
Movement for better men takes hold

Movement for better men takes hold

by Irina Malyugina, Arya Maheshwari, and Nicole Tian
October 17, 2018
Accompanied by the jazz band, Kelsey Wu (12) sings at the end of the rally. The band played as students and teachers left for lunch.

Homecoming 2018: Spirit rally in pictures

by Irina Malyugina, Kathy Fang, and Nicole Chen
October 6, 2018
Christina Bettink (11) studies in the library. If you prefer quiet locations, the library is a great place to study during free periods, lunch or office hours.

Your how-to guide to high school

by Gloria Zhang and Sara Yen
September 14, 2018
Festooned with newspapers, a student at Spirit Kickoff strikes a pose.

Spirit kickoff starts off year with after-school activities

by Irina Malyugina, Vivian Jin, and Ryan Guan
September 9, 2018
_DSC3548

Editors’ Note: Our take on the purpose of the paper

by Prameela Kottapalli and Katherine Zhang
September 3, 2018
As vegan diet mounts in popularity, vegan meal options accommodate most lifestyles. A kitchen staff member prepares a vegan dish.

Veganism in the lunchroom and beyond

by Irina Malyugina, Photo Editor
September 2, 2018
Brightly colored drought-resistant plants and trees laden with ripening apricots rustle in the late spring breeze. The landscaping between Dobbins and Davis Field appeared in the early spring this year. “All of the planting that we did is either drought tolerant or we were trying to depict the history of the Santa Clara Valley,” Bassoni said. Drought resistant plants in the landscaping include bird-of-paradise and silver ragwort.

Harker in bloom

by Irina Malyugina, Photo Editor
September 2, 2018
Kumar and an employee chat with a customer. The restaurant is named after Kumar's late brother-in-law, Avatar Ubhi.

Avatar’s matches dishes to customers’ needs

by Prameela Kottapalli, Winged Post Editor-in-Chief
August 31, 2018
High up in the treetops, a member of the class of 2021 grips a rope for support during the sophomores’ ropes course trip in the Santa Cruz Mountains on Aug. 23. The classes of 2020 and 2021 participated in off-campus trips on Aug. 23.

Sophomores and juniors enjoy ropes course, rafting to start the new year

by Kathy Fang and Ryan Guan
August 31, 2018

Veganism: a closer look

by Irina Malyugina, Photo Editor
August 31, 2018
Matriculation and class trips welcome students back to school

Matriculation and class trips welcome students back to school

by Nicole Chen, Ryan Guan, Kathy Fang, Irina Malyugina, Heidi Zhang, and Michael Eng
August 26, 2018
Global Reset: Trump administration rescinds previous environmental plans, alters emissions

Global Reset: Trump administration rescinds previous environmental plans, alters emissions

by Irina Malyugina and Tiffany Wong
May 14, 2018
The evolution of cigarettes: Vaping trend popularizes among youth

The evolution of cigarettes: Vaping trend popularizes among youth

by Kathy Fang, Saloni Shah, Krishna Bheda, and Irina Malyugina
May 7, 2018
Harker journalism attends JEA/NSPA conference in San Francisco

Harker journalism attends JEA/NSPA conference in San Francisco

by Kathy Fang, Irina Malyugina, and Nicole Chen
April 18, 2018
Experts on play promote relaxation and creativity

Experts on play promote relaxation and creativity

by Irina Malyugina and Anjay Saklecha
March 31, 2018
Students shout during the rally in the San Jose March for Our Lives event. Numerous students attended protests in the Bay Area.

Students, faculty join national movement protesting for gun control

by Katherine Zhang, Kathy Fang, and Prameela Kottapalli
March 28, 2018
Yellow goldfields bloom on the trail as the group continues hiking. This species is also known as Lasthenia californica, but much of the Lasthenia genus itself is native to California and is important to the ecosystems of coastal regions.

Harker community returns to Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve

by Irina Malyugina, Reporter
March 24, 2018
Members of Harker's JCL delegation cheer during the 2017 state convention's opening ceremonies. This year's California Regional Certamen Rounds (Carcer) was held at the Acalanes Adult Education Center in Walnut Creek, while the 2018 state convention will be held at the Menlo School from April 13 to 14.

News update (Volume 19, Issue 5)

by Vijay Bharadwaj, Irina Malyugina, and Sara Yen
March 8, 2018
Memoir Monday: A day spent sailing

Memoir Monday: A day spent sailing

by Irina Malyugina, Reporter
March 5, 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
Brass band Lucky Chops performs a medley of songs during their performance set, challenging the audience of upper school students and faculty to correctly identify and name the song snippets included. Based in New York, Lucky Chops plays music they classify as "high energy brass funk" and features trombonist Josh Holcomb, trumpeter Joshua Gawel, sousaphonist Raphael Buyo, drummer Charles Sams and saxophonist Daro Behroozi.

Brass band performs for upper school students and faculty

by Irina Malyugina, Reporter
February 26, 2018
The moon at 9 p.m. PST, as viewed from California. The supermoon will be most visible during the early morning hours of Dec. 4.

Supermoon lights up sky on Sunday

by Irina Malyugina, Reporter
December 4, 2017
Pulse of the People: Survivors share stories to spark dialogue

Pulse of the People: Survivors share stories to spark dialogue

by Prameela Kottapalli and Irina Malyugina
November 16, 2017
“I feel like sometimes at Harker, we students have this urge to control everything in our lives,” Matthew Lee (12) said. “Like if you don’t get an A on that test, it’s because you didn’t work hard enough, or if you don’t get into this school, it’s because you didn’t work hard enough, or if you don’t get into that school, it’s because you didn’t do enough. But sometimes that’s just not true. Sometimes things are out of your control."

Humans of Harker: Matthew Lee finds meaning in contradiction

by Irina Malyugina, Reporter
November 7, 2017
A kitchen staff member replenishes the salad bar. The salad bar is one of the few always vegan-friendly lunch options.

NHSServiceFair10.13.17_IrinaMalyugina

Photo Frenzy 10/23/17

November 1, 2017
Students spoke to representatives from organizations that provide service opportunities for high school students at last year's fair. The service fair will take place tomorrow in front of Nichols Hall.

Annual NHS service fair to be held Friday during long lunch

by Irina Malyugina and Katherine Zhang
October 12, 2017
The Guinness World Records Adjudicator inspects the tomatoes during the festival. The festival took place on Sept. 17, in Los Gatos.

Tomato festival brings tomato lovers of all kinds together

by Irina Malyugina, Reporter
September 25, 2017
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