The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila
“You only live once, right? My family has always taught me to do as much as you can for the community, because what you're gonna leave behind is your community. Helping them in the best way you can will also be in your best interest. I don't really have an external motivator, but it just makes me happy," senior Sriteja Kataru said.
Humans of Harker: Building more than a brand
Humans of Harker: Kicking off conversations
Humans of Harker: Kicking off conversations
Humans of Harker: Leading with every lesson
Humans of Harker: Leading with every lesson
“For me, discipline can only happen when I try the things that I really like. Since I like basketball and I like guitar, I'm willing to contribute to the discipline. It's not really discipline at that point — it's passion," senior Advay Monga said.
Humans of Harker: Dribble and drive
“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
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
Jessica Hu

Jessica Hu, News Editor

Jessica Hu (11) is a News editor for Harker Aquila and the Winged Post, and this is their third year on staff. This year, they are positively psyched to increase diversity in news coverage and continue creating visuals, all whilst keeping timeliness their highest priority. In their free time, they can be found shouting about manga, flailing around on Olympiad geometry problems or going down on another Wikipedia rabbit hole. 

All content by Jessica Hu
What's on my ballot?

What’s on my ballot?

by Gabe Sachse and Jessica Hu
October 25, 2024
Campaign Conversations Episode 1: Harris and Trump take the stage in presidential debate

Campaign Conversations Episode 1: Harris and Trump take the stage in presidential debate

by Lily Shi and Jessica Hu
September 25, 2024
Rishaan Thoppay (11) braces for a ride on the mechanical bull. Attendees hung on to the bull for as long as possible while it bucked and swayed wildly.

HSLT saddles up for new school year with “Wild West” Spirit Kickoff

by Jessica Hu, Claire Tian, and Cynthia Xie
September 7, 2024
Talk Around Campus: Election thoughts

Talk Around Campus: Election thoughts

by Lily Shi and Jessica Hu
August 24, 2024
HarkerDev admins Saanvi Bhargava (12), Aarav Borthakur (12) and Nelson Gou (12) explain the functions of several of the club's apps. They walked students through multiple of their most used applications and sites, including the Bell Schedule.

School Meeting 8/20: Conservatory, Student Diversity Coalition and Athletics announcements

by Jessica Hu and Lily Shi
August 23, 2024
Shareen Chahal (12) descends the staircase into the Mountain Winery amphitheater. Seniors walked out in pairs and took their seats, alphabetically ordered by last name.

Class of 2024 celebrates graduation at Mountain Winery

by Jessica Hu, Jeremy Peng, and Kairui Sun
May 26, 2024
English teacher Susanne Salhab congratulates seniors Daniel Lin and Claire Miao on their completion of high school. Daniel and Claire were both members of Salhab's AP Literature class.

Classes of 2024 and 2025 close the year with bricks and Baccalaureate

by Jessica Hu and Felix Chen
May 20, 2024
“Drawing has definitely taught me that it doesn't have to be perfect to be good. I think that through my failures in art, I've learned that just because it doesn't look how I imagined it or it didn't turn out how it was supposed to, that doesn't make it bad or worthless. It just makes it different. And I think that really helps with my flexibility. Especially at Harker, it's hard to be so rigid because things often don't go your way, especially in classes," Phoebe Castle (12) said.

Humans of Harker: To the drawing board

by Jessica Hu, Co-News Editor
May 8, 2024
Downbeat members Isabella Ribeiro (12), Shayla He (12), Varun Bhupathi (11), Simon Kirjner (10), Ian Ogden (12) and Ethan Liu (12) perform "Levitating" by Dua Lipa during the school meeting. The performance served as a goodbye for Downbeat's seniors.

School Meeting 5/1: New leadership, Walk for Water and Downbeat

by Jessica Hu, Co-News Editor
May 5, 2024
Newly-elected Associated Student Body president Sam Parupudi (11) expresses their excitement for the next school year. At the end of school meeting on May 1, previous ASB president Daniel Lin (12) handed off the role to Sam.

Arnav Swaroop (12) dances with his friends on the patio floor. This year's prom took place at the Winchester Mystery House, a national historic venue that is often booked for weddings and parties.

Music, mystery and memories

by Lily Shi and Jessica Hu
May 4, 2024
Varsity swimmer Ipsita Mandal (12) walks through the tunnel made up of her teammates during the senior night ceremony. Each senior passed through the tunnel before receiving a bouquet of flowers from head coach Sachi Ujifusa.

Varsity swimming team secures top finishes in senior night meet

by Tiffany Zhu, Jessica Hu, and Emma Li
April 26, 2024
Juniors Sam Parupudi, Alicia Ran, Jia Jia Jiang and Daniel Chen and sophomore Ananya Pradhan took on the positions of president, vice president, secretary, spirit coordinator and treasurer, respectively, during last week's ASB election. This marks the first time in nine years that a non-male candidate takes on the role of ASB president.

ASB elections conclude with non-male majority council

by Lily Shi and Jessica Hu
April 20, 2024
Varsity boys volleyball sweeps Homestead in three sets

Varsity boys volleyball sweeps Homestead in three sets

by Emma Li and Jessica Hu
April 19, 2024
Boys JV cross country member Nicholas Knauer (9) breezes through a flat section of the course at the Ram Invitational Meet on Sept. 30th, 2023. Runners gained speed here, ready to take on the upcoming hill.

2023-2024 recap: Fall sports highlights

by Brandon Zau and Kevin Zhang
April 16, 2024
Journalism staff presents stories and initiatives at JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention

Journalism staff presents stories and initiatives at JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention

by Felix Chen, Vika Gautham, Emma Milner, Jessica Hu, Mendy Mao, Ashley Mo, and Tiffany Zhu
April 6, 2024
Volunteer Jonny Xue (11) calls on an HMI participant during a Fermi estimation contest before the awards ceremony. All of the questions had to do with Om Nom, the green monster from the Cut the Rope mobile game and HMI's unofficial mascot.

Record-high 405 participants attend student-run Harker Math Invitational

by Jessica Hu, Assistant Copy Editor
March 18, 2024
Music Monday is a new installation featuring a different category of songs on a weekly basis.

Music Monday: KICK BACK and relax with Kenshi Yonezu and Aquila

by Jessica Hu, Assistant Copy Editor
March 11, 2024
Introduction to Journalism student Sarah Wang (9) captures fellow classmates Emma Lee (9) and Victoria Li (9) jumping midair. During photographer Mark Murray’s visit, students practiced shooting action photos and capturing motion.

Professional photographer guides journalism students through creating photo stories

by Jessica Hu and Mendy Mao
March 6, 2024
Forward Ryder Hewitt (10) steers the ball away from the sideline. The team currently holds an overall record of 5-10-1.

Varsity boys soccer overcomes Pinewood 3-1

by Aryana Bharali and Jessica Hu
February 4, 2024
The Japan Self-Defense Forces scout around a damaged road, looking for an evacuation route, in the city of Wajima, Ishikawa on Jan. 6. "Some people who don't live in the area would like to help, but they don't welcome trucks or food because the roads are destroyed," Japanese teacher Noriyo Ikeda said. (Provided by the Japanese Ministry of Defense)

7.6-magnitude earthquake strikes Japan on New Year’s Day

by Jessica Hu, Assistant Copy Editor
January 24, 2024
A map of Japan shows the epicenter of the earthquake along with the prefectures in which some Harker community members' families reside. The earthquake struck the Noto Peninsula of Ishikawa, but those in neighboring prefectures also experienced tsunami warnings and shaking in the ground. (Created with MapChart)

“You have to recognize that this isn’t always going to be fun. You’re going to have to train really hard to do well. If you can do that, that’s how you get good at competitive programming,” Thomas Liu (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Optimism and optimization

by Jessica Hu, Co-Assistant Copy Editor
January 12, 2024
Upper school media arts teacher Joshua Martinez introduces this year's artist in residence, Pantea Karimi. Their interview was part of the Harker Speaker Series, and it discussed Karimi's work with a scientific and historical lens.

Pantea Karimi reclaims “Context Lost”

by Jessica Hu and Lily Shi
December 29, 2023
Upper school media arts teacher Joshua Martinez introduces this year's artist in residence, Pantea Karimi. Their interview was part of the Harker Speaker Series, and it discussed Karimi's work with a scientific and historical lens.

Pantea Karimi speaks about her experience working with Harker students as the Dickinson Visual Arts Endowment Artist in Residence this year. "I was stunned by how deeply they explore their subject matters and execute all of these subjects in different, various media," Karimi said. "That was really beautiful — how young they are, and how deeply they think about what they are passionate about."

"Context Lost" features a large grid of over 260 hand-cut triangles inspired by Pascal's triangle, also known as Khayyam's triangle in Iran."Creating this work, I wanted to pay homage to both mathematicians," Karimi said.

The RPAC gallery displays artwork depicting yellow stars in blue space. Karimi worked with students to highlight the beauty and intricacies of stars.

A table at the reception displays yellow and black striped cake pops, chocolate strawberries, cupcakes and other refreshments. Before Karimi's talk, guests enjoyed the snacks, which evoked the bright colors of her "Context Lost" pieces.

Music Monday is a new installation featuring a different category of songs on a weekly basis.

Music Monday: Enjoy “GREEN APPLE” every day with Aquila

by Jessica Hu, Assistant Copy Editor
December 11, 2023
The cross-country seniors pose with upper school cross-country head coach Kevin Oliver, holding up posters decorated by the team. "When we’re at meets, there’s a great team vibe where everyone is very supportive of each other," senior Emma Gao said.

Cross-country senior night closes with CCS qualifications and personal records

by Jessica Hu, Reporter
November 23, 2023
Jonathan Li (9) and Adam Sayed (12) bolt past the starting line of the boys JV race. Out of 120 total runners, the pair finished 20th and 26th with times of 20:35 and 21:13, respectively.

Cross-country team conquers hills and heat at WBAL Meet #1

by Jessica Hu, Reporter
October 25, 2023
Nicholas Knauer (9) breezes through a flat section of the course. Runners gained speed here, ready to take on the upcoming hill.

Cross-country team traverses elevated course at Ram Invitational meet

by Jessica Hu and Emma Li
October 18, 2023
Kathleen Neumeyer, former adviser of the Harvard-Westlake Chronicle, introduces her book "Advising the Chronicle: How I taught high school journalism students to run billion-dollar companies (and you can too)." She presented the session, "J-ism Is Training for Anything,” which emphasized how journalistic skills are applicable to a wide range of fields.

‘Training for Anything’: From Gaza to sports photography to video journalism

by Felix Chen, Katerina Matta, Aishani Singh, and Claire Yu
October 14, 2023
Editor-in-Chief of Palo Alto High School's Viking Grace Gormley presents "Upping your sports game" at the JEA NorCal Media day. The Viking is the only high school sports magazine in the country.

Mountain View High School (MVHS) Oracle Editor-in-Chief Hanna Olson speaks about her experiences with school press censorship. School administration reassigned the publication's advisor, Carla Gomez, from the journalism program following the publication of an article discussing sexual harassment.

Humans of Harker (HOH) Editor-in-Chief Katelyn Zhao (12) speaks to audience members during the "Humans of [Your School]" presentation. HOH highlights the unique stories and interests of each graduating senior.

Humans of Harker bring ‘Humans of [Your School]’ to JEA NorCal convention

by Felix Chen, Co-News Editor
October 14, 2023
ASB Community Service Committee members Aaron Bao (11), Luke Wu (10), Cynthia Wang (12) and Kabir Ramzan (12) thanked students for their purchases at the boba fundraiser during the school meeting on Tuesday. Harker students and staff raised over $1,700, and the proceeds will be donated towards repairing earthquake damage in Morocco.

School meeting recap 9/26/23: Homecoming week, Student Directed Showcase and lunch etiquette

by Jessica Hu and Tiffany Zhu
October 1, 2023
"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

by Jessica Hu, Reporter
August 17, 2023
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