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
Former Head of School Chris Nikoloff delivers his farewell address to the Class of 2017 during the graduation ceremony. “Today is a special graduation to me because we are, in fact, graduating together, although I am sure you are graduating with a higher GPA. Even though we are leaving Harker together, its values of lifelong learning, commitment to excellence and service to others will not leave us," he said.

ASB president Jimmy Lin (12) delivers his State of the School address, in which he reviewed student council's projects and work over the course of the school year. Jimmy delivered his customary line, "Class starts at 10:50 you're all dismissed," for the final time at today's school meeting.

School meeting recap 5/2

by Tiffany Wong, Aquila News Editor
May 2, 2018
Cantilena sings "Duo Seraphim" by Caterina Assandra at the United Voices concert on Feb. 23. All upper school choirs performed in a May 4 concert at the Rothschild Performing Arts Center.

Varsity dance troupe performs the routine "River Lea" during today's school meeting. The group will also be performing this number at the upcoming dance showcase Just Dance on April 29 at 6 p.m. in the Rothschild Performing Arts Center.

School meeting recap 4/26

by Tiffany Wong, Aquila News Editor
April 26, 2018
“Everyone who knows me can attest that I can easily be a stick in the mud, that I'm way too uptight, but that's something I really want to learn how to work on, because when you relax and when you stop caring about how you try to comport yourself and when you stop taking yourself too seriously and just let go around a bunch of people who are pretty supportive, you start to learn a lot more about what you like and what you want to do in the future and who you want to be around," Linus Li (12) said. "And I learned it's a lot less about keeping up a certain image and more about knowing what a kind of a person you are and who you want to be around.”

Humans of Harker: Linus Li takes pride in the process

by Kathy Fang, Photo Editor
April 29, 2018
The cast of "42nd Street" sang the number "Lullaby of Broadway" to convince Peggy Sawyer, played by Ellie Lang-Ree (12) last year, to take the place of Broadway legend Dorothy Brock in "Pretty Lady." "42nd Street" featured a total of 41 performers from all four grades.

Spring musical “42nd Street” taps the night away

by Krishna Bheda and Sydney Takemoto
April 22, 2018
Philosophy Club member Alex Young (11) shares details of the organization's speaker series featuring professor of philosophy at Stanford University Dr. Barry Maguire. Dr. Maguire will speak about the influence of popular media in modern society and politics.

School meeting recap 4/20

by Anvi Banga, Aquila Asst. News Editor
April 20, 2018
Camerata sings "Chili con carne" during their performance in this year's United Voices concert, held in February at the Rothschild Performing Arts Center. For the upcoming spring vocal concert, Camerata will be singing “Walkin’ On That Heavenly Road,” “The Nightingale” and “Blackbird.”

Annual campus vocal concert to feature all upper school choirs

by Sara Yen, Reporter
April 26, 2018
Green Team members Sachi Bajaj (9), Natasha Yen (9), Anthony Shing (10), Alex Shing (10) and Satchi Thockchom (12) organize baked goods sales at their booth outside Manzanita during their club week. During long lunch on Friday, the club hosted Isabelle Cnudde of Clorofil, who talked about sustainable agriculture in Nichols Auditorium.

Green Team fundraises for environmental non-profit, hosts Green High Schools Challenge for club week

by Arya Maheshwari, Reporter
April 20, 2018
History department chair Donna Gilbert and Library Director Sue Smith direct students interested in applying for a Near or Mitra scholar grant for the next school year to the program's information hub and LibGuide. Applications and a parent permission form were due by 6 p.m. on April 24.

School meeting recap 4/10

by Anvi Banga, Aquila Asst. News Editor
April 10, 2018
"In middle school, I was always with my friends," Vijay Bhardarwaj (12) said. "I don't think I could ever stand a time when I wasn't with my friends. In high school, probably during my freshman and sophomore years, I began to realize that it's okay to be alone. Being alone is a good time to reflect more on yourself and do some more thinking about the person you want to be. Being comfortable with being alone was a huge step in finding a home at Harker, because, you know, when I was okay with being alone, I knew how I could be at Harker."

Humans of Harker: Vijay Bharadwaj learns to find contentment in new environments

by Katherine Zhang, STEM Editor
April 21, 2018
DSC_8260

Space industry’s privatization leads to new breakthroughs, challenges

by Tiffany Wong, Aquila News Editor
April 23, 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
Junior class council treasurer candidate Allie Yen (10) addresses the sophomore class. Voting for this year's class council elections took place in the journalism room and Shah 404 during long lunch today.

Students vote in annual class council elections

by Kathy Fang, Photo Editor
April 18, 2018
Sophomore David Feng dives for a ball during the game against Cupertino High School. The team has eight games left in their season.

Boys JV volleyball loses to Cupertino High School

by Kathy Fang, Photo Editor
March 30, 2018
Brendan Wong (10) performs a saxophone solo during the An Evening of Jazz concert. Held on March 16, this year's An Evening of Jazz was the third concert held in the new Rothschild Performing Arts Center.

Evening melodies: Harker hosts An Evening of Jazz and Santa Monica concerts at Rothschild Performing Arts Center

by Saloni Shah, Reporter
March 29, 2018
Production Manager Brian Larsen encourages students interested in teching this year's spring musical "42nd Street" to email him regarding availability. Three students are still needed to join the tech crew for the production.

School meeting recap 3/28

by Anvi Banga, Aquila Asst. News Editor
March 28, 2018
Anika Banga (12) sings Vanessa Carlton's "A Thousand Miles" as Akshaya Vemuri (12), Sumi Wadhwa (12), Satchi Thockchom (12) and Megan Huynh (12) accompany her on various instruments. The group is planning on performing another song at the upcoming Quadchella talent show on May 2.

Student council hosts annual talent show Hoscars in Patil Theater

by Farah Hosseini, Reporter
March 23, 2018
Taking it to the streets: Thousands march in youth-organized rallies for gun control legislation

Taking it to the streets: Thousands march in youth-organized rallies for gun control legislation

by Nicole Chen, Prameela Kottapalli, Kathy Fang, Anmol Velagapudi, and Katherine Zhang
March 31, 2018
Stahl dances the evening away with tango partner Sam Safadi. “If you want something challenging, then challenge yourself with Tango,” Stahl said.

Meet your teacher: Math teacher moves to the music through tango career

by Rose Guan and Kathy Fang
March 31, 2018
Students that spearheaded the march in San Francisco prepare to partake in the march following the rally. More than 25,000 people participated in the San Francisco march alone on March 24.

Students, faculty join national movement protesting for gun control

by Katherine Zhang, Kathy Fang, and Prameela Kottapalli
March 28, 2018
ASB president-elect Neil Ramaswamy (11) delivers his campaign speech during this year's ASB elections. For next year, Neil's main goals are increasing communication, engagement and transparency both within the council itself and with the student body.

ASB President-elect speaks about plans for 2018-19 school year

by Arushi Saxena, Reporter
March 28, 2018
Students that spearheaded the march in San Francisco prepare to partake in the march following the rally. More than 25,000 people participated in the San Francisco march alone on March 24.

We the Students: March for Our Lives San Jose’s student activists on why they organized the event

by Katherine Zhang, Kathy Fang, and Eric Fang
September 1, 2018
Siblings sport signs advocating for safer gun control policies. Protesters of all ages gathered in march locations across the country on March 23rd to speak out against the gun epidemic.

Not one more: Thousands participate in March for Our Lives protests in Bay Area

by Nicole Chen and Prameela Kottapalli
March 26, 2018

Through the years: A history of gun legislation in the U.S.

by Anvi Banga, Kathy Fang, and Tiffany Wong
March 15, 2018
Avi Gulati (10), who led the initiatives of solidarity among student council and headed the coordination of the vigil, writes a message in neon green on the “#MSDStrong” banner which student council had prepared before the vigil this morning. The banner will be sent to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School to hang in their halls alongside the banners of other schools across the country as a sign of support and solidarity.

Upper school community extends support to recovering MSD students and faculty through vigil, advocacy initiatives

by Anvi Banga, Kathy Fang, and Tiffany Wong
March 15, 2018
DSC_8068

Students and faculty voice their support for MSD victims in activist activities, banner

by Anvi Banga, Kathy Fang, and Tiffany Wong
September 1, 2018
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