The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila
“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
“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
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
Jessie Wang

Jessie Wang, Senior Copy Editor

Jessie Wang (12) is the senior copy editor for the Winged Post and Harker Aquila. This is his fourth and final year on staff, and he hopes to continue his work and pass down his skills and the torch of Harker Journalism to a future generation. In his free time, he enjoys playing with his cat, reading, spending time with his brother, playing games and hanging out with friends.
All content by Jessie Wang
“I like being guided by the idea of making the most out of any situation because it is intentionally ambiguous. It gives me the flexibility to define it as I see fit. And then pursue it as I see fit,” Nerine Uyanik (’20) said.

Humans of Harker: Make the most out of every moment

by Jessie Wang, Senior Copy Editor
June 17, 2020
“From the very beginning, I knew how powerful the subject of computer science really is. Like I've seen from my dad's story, computer science can actually transform these underprivileged children's lives first hand. By learning this subject which is in such high demand in the industry now, they can actually get a chance to escape the poverty cycle. So I think from that I kind of grew inspired to actually help like children similar to how my dad was back in India, and found this organization for underprivileged children,” Sahil Jain (12) said.

Humans of Harker: The power of industry

by Jessie Wang, Senior Copy Editor
May 7, 2020
“I’m a perfectionist. I feel like a lot of people misunderstand it. It's like a way you think. You have an ideal model of how the world should be and how you should be. You might not necessarily achieve it, but then you still have an idea of the perfect you should be like. And I'm trying my best to do that work all the time. I feel like everything I do is worth it,” Jack Jia (12) said.

Humans of Harker: An unconventional character

by Jessie Wang, Senior Copy Editor
April 14, 2020
“As I’ve grown older, I’ve [begun to] feel like ‘oh I could have done this better, I could have done that better’, and that’s my personality as a perfectionist. But also, I understand that in the moment I made this decision because I thought it was the right thing to do, and I want to live my life like that: not doing things that in the moment I know I shouldn’t be doing, that in the moment I know I’ll regret later,” Ramanand Vegesna (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Keep up the rally

by Jessie Wang, Senior Copy Editor
April 7, 2020
Business and Entrepreneurship teacher Juston Glass assists two freshmen in his class. The fall DECA conference presents an opportunity for freshmen to compete through roleplay interviews and practice for the upcoming SVCDC conference in January.

News briefs: Choir concert, Harker Car Show, and Evening of Medicine

by Brian Chen, Amruta Dharmapurikar, Varsha Rammohan, Arushi Saxena, Emily Tan, Anna Vazhaeparambil, and Jessie Wang
November 13, 2019
Neural Networks at Harker: a Quadrennial Spectacle

Neural Networks at Harker: a Quadrennial Spectacle

by Jessie Wang, Senior Copy Editor
August 30, 2019
“I really like art because it relaxes me and it takes me to another place and away from all my problems. I like to paint specifically while I listen to music because it is super soothing. It’s just something I can show my creativity in my own way however I feel like. It’s a good way for me to express anything I’m feeling through a more physical way," Taylor Vaughan (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Artistic apotheosis

by Jessie Wang, Reporter
May 24, 2019
Vijay Vyas and Deven Parikh (10) sing during their performance of “Un Poco Loco” at Spanish Cultural Night.

Language clubs honor international cultures

by Alysa Suleiman, Jessie Wang, and Irene Yuan
April 26, 2019
“For me at least, I get this feeling when I know I helped out someone else where I’m like ‘dang, I made a difference.’ That’s important to me. Because I think I realize how much people have helped me get to where I am today. Teachers, parents, mentors. I think I want to give that back," Jason Huang (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Blazing a path forward

by Jessie Wang, Reporter
March 16, 2019
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.

The international student journey

by Gloria Zhang, Jessie Wang, and Erica Cai
February 23, 2019
“[I feel best] when I see something that I either created or patched is pushed online, and I can start seeing the results coming off of it, making something positive. Even though nobody's directly benefiting, if I hadn't patched it and someone else was using it for some sketchy stuff, people are going to either get their identity stolen or get their email hacked. It's really just about creating a positive impact on the community, that's all that matters," Johnny Wang (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Life encoded

by Jessie Wang, Reporter
February 5, 2019
Sarah Raymond (10), who plays the character Miriam, shows a bag to Lisa Barooah (10), playing Olivia, and Joel Morel (11), playing Cody. In "And Action," Miriam is a high schooler who plays a French villain in her friend's movie.

Student-Directed Showcase presents comedies, dramas under seniors’ direction

by Jessie Wang, Reporter
January 16, 2019
A rendition of an H2 molecule of the hydrogen gas used in fuel cells.

Global Reset: The potential of Hydrogen

by Sara Yen and Jessie Wang
December 7, 2018
“People don't really notice that I have a hearing disability until I tell them, and the first thing they will usually say is ‘I’m sorry'... Pity gets old very quickly, and I couldn't imagine what it would have been like for people who have more severe disabilities than I do. And I’d say it’s just an empowering reminder of what people go through every day — what deaf people go through everyday, and how, because I have this perspective, I have a duty to help other people,” Brian Park (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Persevering with pride

by Jessie Wang, Reporter
November 30, 2018
Singles player Santoshi Tirumala (10) prepares to hit the ball. Santoshi, along with doubles partners Gina Partridge (11) and Amanda Cheung (11), fell in Monday's quarterfinals.

Varsity girls tennis competes in WBAL tournament, players advance to CCS

by Jessie Wang, Reporter
November 4, 2018
Impacts of increased ethnic representation in the entertainment industry

Impacts of increased ethnic representation in the entertainment industry

by Jessie Wang, Reporter
October 25, 2018
The announcement sheets for the Nobel Prizes. The Nobel Foundation announced the laureates for Physiology or Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, Economic Science and Peace starting Oct. 1.

Nobel Foundation awards 2018 prizes to laureates

by Jessie Wang and Daniel Wu
October 22, 2018
Members of the spirit team bow down to the eagle at the school meeting on Sep. 26. This new eagle costume is a recent addition to the upper school spirit arsenal, concurrent with the opening of the athletic center in September 2017.

Put your eagles up: eagle mascot and logo amplify spirit on campus

by Ryan Guan, Jessie Wang, and Muthu Panchanatham
October 17, 2018
Joel Morel (11) participates in an activity led by actors in the Oregon Shakespeare Festival company on Saturday morning. A group of upper school students, accompanied by four teacher chaperones, travelled to Ashland on an annual trip this past weekend.

Students travel to Shakespeare festival on annual trip

by Jessie Wang, Reporter
September 25, 2018
Conservative representation in the media contributes to discussion

Conservative representation in the media contributes to discussion

by Vivian Jin and Jessie Wang
September 3, 2018
Biology teacher Dr. Thomas Artiss tends to a beehive. "I could stand and watch the hive for half an hour," Artiss said.

Meet your teacher: Biology teacher experiences joy of beekeeping

by Jessie Wang, Reporter
September 2, 2018
Peggy Sawyer (Ellie Lang-Ree(11)) tap dances while singing a song. 88 people in total, including cast, crew and musicians were involved in the production of 42nd Street.

Come and meet those dancing feet on “42nd Street”!

by Aditya Singhvi and Jessie Wang
May 14, 2018
Sophomore Piper White cradles the ball as she evades an opposing player. The eagles won the game 13-3.

Varsity girls lacrosse beats Lincoln-San Jose 13-3

by Jessie Wang, Reporter
March 24, 2018
Memoir Monday: A pot and a cup

Memoir Monday: A pot and a cup

by Jessie Wang, Reporter
March 12, 2018
History Club advisor Roxana Pianko helps history club co-president Aryana Far (11) archive supplies from the trunk of World War II era supplies. The four trunks were brought to Pianko from Romania to the U.S. by a friend, who bought them at an auction.

History Club archives World War II era supplies

by Jessie Wang, Reporter
March 8, 2018
The lunchroom tables were moved to the right side of Manzanita before winter break. The rearrangement was intended to decrease lunchroom congestion during lunch.

News update (Issue 4)

by Karina Chen, Jessie Wang, and Gloria Zhang
February 6, 2018
Participants in English teacher Christopher Hurshman's LIFE session on adulting raise their hands. Hurshman held his discussion in the CyberLoft on Jan. 29.

Front page update (Issue 4)

by Arya Maheshwari, Arushi Saxena, and Sahana Srinivasan
February 6, 2018
Shi delivers a lecture to his precalculus class. "[A challenge] is getting to know people, so I can adapt my teaching style to fit everyone," Shi said.

Math teacher Yanxin Shi works with a student during class. Shi began teaching classes in January.

Jessie Wang (10) works at his laptop on homework. Jessie started attending Harker in his sophomore year.

A new sophomore’s experiences

by Jessie Wang, Reporter
February 3, 2018
Amnesty International members manage baked goods sales outside Manzanita. The club also invited guest speaker and human rights advocate Amy Rao to speak about the human rights problems society faces today and how different organizations move to solve them on Tuesday during long lunch.

Joanna Lin (12) works on a problem during a practice round for last year's online math competition Math Madness on Sept. 27. Competitors worked on math problems online in 20 minute sessions.

Upcoming math competitions in 2018

by Jessie Wang, Reporter
December 7, 2017
Elliot Kampmeier (9), Serena Lu (12), Gwyneth Chen (12) and Amla Rashingkar (10) review student work during one of HELM's workshops this week. HELM members also sold boba tea outside Manzanita on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday for $5 each.

HELM holds club week

by Jessie Wang, Reporter
November 10, 2017
ChemIrvine10.17.17_JessieWang

Photo Frenzy 10/23/17

November 1, 2017
Agüero-Esparza uses a sewing machine to fashion traditional Mexican sandals, known as Huaraches.

Meet your teacher: Art teacher features original work at Getty-sponsored exhibition

by Neil Bai and Jessie Wang
October 12, 2017
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