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
Kathy Fang

Kathy Fang, Editor-in-Chief

Kathy Fang (12) is the editor-in-chief of Harker Aquila. This is her fourth year on staff. From covering local marches and protests to initiating Harker Aquila’s 2020 Elections coverage project in January 2019, Kathy hopes to continue bridging the worlds of national news and student journalism, one story at a time. Beyond journalism, she is a performer, student director, humanities scholar and, above all, an aspiring storyteller.

All content by Kathy Fang
Spirit club officers Arjun Kilaru (12) and Zachary Hoffman (12) announce the results of the costume contests from Wednesday. Each winner received prizes as well as spirit points for their class.

School meeting recap 11/2/18

by Ryan Guan, Executive News Editor
November 2, 2018
L’ancien professeur de français Antoinette Gathy en 2013.

Élèves, collègues rendent hommage à un ancien professeur de français après sa mort

by Kathy Fang, Managing Editor
November 3, 2018
Lauren Beede (11) reaches up to tap the ball over the net in today's CCS semifinals game against Santa Cruz High School. The game was held at Menlo High School and was carried by the Harker varsity girls team, who will proceed to play Notre Dame High School in the finals game on Saturday.

Varsity girls volleyball advances to CCS finals, winning semifinals in three sets

by Kathy Fang, Managing Editor
November 1, 2018
Upper school students and faculty evacuate to Davis Field at the sound of the alarm during lunch today.

Fog machine sets off fire alarm, students and faculty evacuate

by Nicole Chen, Editor-in-chief
October 26, 2018
Michelle Ning (10) jumps up to hit the ball. The team won 3-0 against Mercy-Burlingame in a game today.

Varsity girls volleyball wins CCS quarterfinals, advances to semifinals

by Aditya Singhvi, Sports Editor
October 31, 2018
History teacher Julie Wheeler, along with art teacher Japp Bongers and english teacher John Docherty, listen to history teacher Carol Green talk about ballot and voting resources. Wheeler and Green co-hosted the "Election 2018" session.

Shah Salon kicks off second year of discussions

by Nicole Chen, Editor-in-chief
October 31, 2018
Trevor Thompson (12) returns a serve during today's round of pingpong games. Winners from this round will advance to the semifinals, which will be held tomorrow during lunch in the quad.

Student competitors advance in spirit club pingpong tournament

by Nicole Chen, Editor-in-chief
October 31, 2018
Zoey Rosa (11) puts a headband on Ronit Gagneja (11). Students wore Halloween costumes today to celebrate the holiday.

Upper school celebrates Halloween with colorful costumes, spirit contests

by Nicole Chen, Editor-in-chief
October 31, 2018
Junior spirit representative Vance Hirota (10) picks a number from a basket to draw for a pumpkin in preparation for a pumpkin carving competition later this week.

School meeting recap 10/22/18

by Arushi Saxena, Global Editor
October 23, 2018
Vaishnavi Murari (10), who plays Woman in Back of Auditorium, ties back Maya Franz (10)'s hair. In this year's fall play, "Our Town", Maya plays Rebecca Gibbs, the sister of George Gibbs.

Cast performs annual fall play, first in RPAC

by Michael Eng, Global Columnist
October 31, 2018
Psychologist Dr. Ali Mattu talks about his struggles with his early YouTube career, emphasizing the toxicity of envy and jealousy.

Psychologist presents on importance of collaboration

by Ryan Guan, Executive News Editor
October 24, 2018
The primary elections on June 5 left the top two candidates — Democratic candidate and Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom and Republican candidate John Cox — in the race for the Governor’s seat.

California’s gubernatorial election

by Eric Fang and Saloni Shah
October 23, 2018
"We really owe it to [her]," assistant head of school Jennifer Gargano said. "It is hard to say what she has contributed because it is hard to say what she has not."

In memory of Diana Nichols

by Prameela Kottapalli, Nicole Chen, Kathy Fang, Eric Fang, and Gloria Zhang
October 22, 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
Jazz pianist Taylor Eigsti performs a solo in a piece at tonight's show, which was the first performance of tonight's Concert Series, as upper school music teacher Dave Hart and jazz saxophonist Dayna Stephens look on.

Concert Series returns after two years with jazz performance

by Kathy Fang, Managing Editor
October 18, 2018
Susie Sokol improvises a scene during an interview session with Harker journalism

So you wanna be a performance artist?

by Helen Yang and Erica Cai
October 17, 2018
Class council candidate Kai Burich (9) gives his speech for the position of spirit coordinator.

Freshman council candidates deliver speeches before Thursday elections

by Nicole Chen, Editor-in-chief
October 16, 2018
A sign in Main hall informing students of the excused tardy policy for today.

Construction finishes for the day after delaying school traffic

by Ryan Guan and Kathy Fang
October 17, 2018
The Shah patio at the upper school. Upper school psychology teacher Dr. Jonathan Sammartino was arrested Sept. 11 on three charges of sexual misconduct at a previous teaching position in San Diego.

Psychology teacher joins upper school faculty after former teacher’s arrest

by Nicole Chen, Kathy Fang, and Arushi Saxena
October 17, 2018
Freshmen discuss the course planning website at their LIFE session on Friday. Academic Dean Kelly Horan spoke about how to maintain a balanced course load.

Seniors and sophomores unite with Eagle Buddies, juniors and freshmen attend LIFE sessions

by Helen Yang, Columnist
October 15, 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
L’ancien professeur de français Antoinette Gathy en 2013.

School mourns death of retired French teacher

by Kathy Fang, Managing Editor
October 15, 2018
Raphael Sanche (12), GSA president, gives a speech about his experience coming out as transgender in honor of National Coming Out Day on Oct. 11.

School meeting recap 10/9/18

by Eric Fang and Ryan Guan
October 11, 2018
"Part of the reason I wanted to come to the U.S. by myself initially was me just wanting to get away from the family. I wanted to be a man and do everything on my own," Nemo Yang (12) said. "Later I learned that it was so hard. But I learned so much in the process of doing so. I learned a lot from moving from host family to host family and eventually living on my own.”

Humans of Harker: Home away from home

by Andrew Chang, TALON Sports Editor
October 12, 2018
Upper school students enjoy chocolate chip cookies outside the athletics center today after school meeting. The kitchen staff prepared cookies to honor former head of school Howard Nichols' birthday.

Upper school honors Howard Nichols on his birthday

by Kathy Fang, Managing Editor
October 9, 2018
Sophomore homecoming court representatives Alex Zhai and Vivian Jin balance a beach ball between their foreheads during the relay race, which concluded the spirit rally.

Homecoming 2018: Spirit rally in pictures

by Irina Malyugina, Kathy Fang, and Nicole Chen
October 6, 2018
With about two minutes remaining in the first quarter, Siddharth Dudyala (11) catches a 37-yard pass from quarterback Anthony Meissner (12) to advance the ball to the Lobos' 2-yard line. Although a Lobos interception thwarted Harker from converting from the red zone, they still ended the first half with a 21-0 lead.

Homecoming 2018: The game in pictures

by Aditya Singhvi, Kathy Fang, and Nicole Chen
October 6, 2018
The newly confirmed 114th Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh takes the Constitutional Oath, administered by Chief Justice John Roberts, accompanied by Kavanaugh's wife, Ashley Estes Kavanaugh, and his two daughters, Liza and Margaret. The Senate confirmed Kavanaugh's nomination in a 50-48 today.

Kavanaugh sworn in as 114th Supreme Court justice after 50-48 Senate vote

by Ryan Guan and Kathy Fang
October 6, 2018
Taylor Lam (12) knocks away a ball during today's faculty-student dodgeball game, hosted by Spirit Club. The student team lost the game 2-1 after winning the first round.

Faculty wins first spirit dodgeball game

by Ryan Guan, Executive News Editor
October 3, 2018
Junior Sejal Krishnan strings a bead onto a friendship bracelet at an activity hosted by spirit club today during lunch. Students are invited to participate in a number of spirit activities this week, including a parade and scream-off tomorrow after fifth period.

Spirit activities kick off homecoming week

by Ryan Guan, Executive News Editor
October 3, 2018
"People now come up to me when they need a mix in songs," Jerry Peng (12) said. "It’s really placed my mark in Harker. I want to be remembered for that guy who did music and made music. That's really all I want. Music has taught me more than just a melody, it has taught me perseverance, dedication, leadership and gratitude — and those lessons spill over into all aspects of my life."

Humans of Harker: Channeling life through beats

by Anjay Saklecha, Senior Copy Editor
October 3, 2018
“I think you have to measure your impact and what you’ve done for other people–to know that you’re doing good with what you’re doing. You have to create a world for yourself, with your actions, that you would want to live in,” Ryan Guan (12) said. “For myself, I want to have something that I strive for– and that’s making a difference.”

Humans of Harker: Power in thought

by Prameela Kottapalli, Editor-in-chief
October 1, 2018
Members of Spirit Club bow before the Eagle mascot at school meeting on Wednesday in promotion of Spirit Week, which will start on Monday.

School meeting recap 9/26/18

by Ryan Guan, Executive News Editor
September 27, 2018
"To sum it up in one word, it's empathy,” Kelsey Wu (12) said. “I've always been very interested in learning the stories of other people and helping other people, and what really ties everything I do together would be my goal of empathizing with others and understanding others. From a performing arts perspective, putting yourself in a character is obviously a very empathetic way of understanding others, and then in a student council, service standpoint, serving other people and really digging at what makes them happy—and also what's bothering them—is a really good medium of understanding how people work."

Humans of Harker: Toy libraries, jazz music and “person of the people”

by Kathy Fang, Managing Editor
September 27, 2018
Nellie Tonev (11) and Maya Franz (10) discuss ideas for a storytelling exercise during a workshop at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival this weekend. A group of 28 students and four teachers travelled to Ashland, Oregon, on Friday and returned to San Jose on Sunday night.

Weekend recap 9/24/18

by Eric Fang, News Editor
September 24, 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
Theater candidate Nicky Kriplani (10) performs a monologue from Eugene O’Neill’s play “Long Day’s Journey into Night” for his jury performance. Sophomore Certificate candidates are required to perform a two minute piece for a panel of Conservatory teachers.

Certificate candidates perform at sophomore juries

by Kathy Fang, Managing Editor
September 20, 2018
Performing arts director Laura Lang-ree welcomes students to the Conservatory Kickoff presentation, which was held in the Patil Theater on Wednesday. Students in the Conservatory, along with their parents, were invited to attend the presentation.

Performing arts department holds Conservatory Kickoff

by Kathy Fang, Humans of Harker Managing Editor
August 31, 2018
Avi Gulati (11) adjusts Junior Classical League's poster board at Club Fair.

Campus organizations invite students to join in annual Club Fair

by Eric Fang, Ryan Guan, and Arushi Saxena
September 16, 2018
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