Breaking News
- June 22Humans of Harker: Scoring and scouting
- June 22Upper school activates shelter-in-place, all students, staff safe
- June 16Humans of Harker: Keys to connection
- June 13Humans of Harker: Dribbling with drive
- June 13Humans of Harker: Keystone of the community
- June 12Humans of Harker: The vitality of art
- June 12Humans of Harker: Evoking emotion
- June 6Magic in a post-lockdown hug: Staying grounded in small joys
- June 6Greatest goodbyes: Departing upper school faculty bid farewells
- June 6Welcoming cultural differences with Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
![“I would worry about what other people thought about me, what my teammates were thinking. I got way too focused on that, so after a while, soccer wasn’t fun for me anymore. [But,] the school team is an environment where you can experiment and be creative with the ball, if you’re willing to take those chances, and I was able to do that, Muthu Panchanatham (22) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/MuthuPanchanathamHoH_EshaGohil-675x900.jpeg)
![“Ive experienced a lot of disappointing moments, but the ratio of good to bad moments is so stark that [it] makes the good moments so good, because they stand out more. Piano has taught me how to go through struggle, how to persevere and that its okay to not be a perfectionist, Yejin Song (22) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/YejinSongHoH_AlysaSuleiman-900x599.jpeg)
![“When you play soccer, you have more of a team mentality. You learn to accept people’s mistakes and keep moving forward from that, even though they might lead to a goal. [To me,] that is a good foundation for any friendship, Kate Leafstrand (22) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/KateLHoH_EG-547x900.jpeg)
![“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 its played such a major role in who Ive 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 Im [really] proud of,” Anvitha Tummala (21) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-25-at-9.50.05-AM-900x594.png)
![“[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.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AnnaGert_JinTuan_HoHPhotoEdited-600x900.jpeg)
![“Im 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 theres a lot of people that are really confident in what they do, and I really admire them. Everyones 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.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AlyssaHuang_EmilyChen_HoHPhoto-900x749.jpeg)
![“My slogan is ‘slow feet, don’t eat, and I’m hungry.’ You need to run fast to get where you are–you arent going to get those championships if you arent 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.”](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/DSC5146-900x601.jpg)
![“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.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Screen-Shot-2017-06-03-at-4.54.16-PM.png)
![“My favorite part [about table tennis] is that its not just about your technique and your strategy; it’s very much a mental game. Even though you have your club mates and your coaches there, they cant come play for you, so you cant have an off day, because theres no one to pick up the slack for you. Its helped me a lot with being more confident in myself and being able to withstand pressure from [my] academic life as well, Ritika Rajamani (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/RitikaRajamaniHoH_LavanyaSubramanian-900x600.jpg)
![“I remember being interested and attracted to the idea that I could create something that I didnt see anywhere else. I didnt see anything [that] made adoption easier for the people who are trying to adopt, so that was the idea I was going forward [with] and that I wanted to develop [with Lucky Paw], Ysabel Chen (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/ysabelchenhoh_lavanyasubramanian-595x900.png)
![“One of the best things about senior year is that you can take much more niche classes, and I would tell [people] to take great advantage of that, because Harker has classes that no other schools offer. Its benefited me [and] Im really glad, retrospectively, that I tried a bunch of classes I had no idea about instead of trying to only take things I was familiar with,” Avery Young (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/AveryYoung_RitikaRajamani_HoHPhoto-900x601.jpg)
![“You can learn everything you want in the world, but if you’re not going to use it to do anything for anyone, I find [that] disappointing. What we can do is make little steps to take what we do in the classroom and really help other people with it. In general, trying to think about the impact that your actions can make … is really important, and it’s really empowering,” Meha Goyal (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/MehaGoyal_LavanyaSubramanian_HoHPhoto-900x600.jpg)
![“Even though Ive been doing [programming] for so long, theres still so much more for me to learn. And its such a fascinating field, because there are 1,000 different ways to accomplish something. And as you get more experienced, you tend to figure out which of those ways would be better,” Ally Tiritoglu (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/AllyTiritoglu_LavanyaSubramanian_HoHPhoto-e1616175192780-600x900.jpeg)
![“If I have a brightening effect on someone’s day, thats good enough for me … [The] little things add up. I dont think life [should be about the] big events, I think its the [smaller experiences] that add up over time. So its the same thing that applies when I want to help someone out. Its piece by piece,” Shaunak Narain (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/ShaunakNarain_SmrithiSambamurthy_HoHPhoto-e1613456752239-600x900.jpg)
![“Its really helpful to understand that the people around you arent your competition; you are your own competition. [That’s] the only way youre ever going to truly progress in life and become a better version of yourself,” Sarina Sharma (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/SarinaSharma_EshaGohil_HoHPhoto-596x900.jpg)
![“My mom always says, ‘don’t shortchange yourself’, [since] I feel like within Harker, there’s always the idea of not being good enough ... I think my mom does a really good job of encouraging me, because ... sometimes I get swamped in with the Harker culture. She tells me to focus and do what I can do, and that it’s going to be okay,” Amanda Cheung (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/AmandaCheung_AlysaSuleiman_HoHPhoto-601x900.jpg)
![“Over the years, I’ve learned how to manage my time more … and take advantage of teachers’ help, which has actually been really useful. But [I] learn[ed] that its okay to not be great at everything and its okay to ask for help when you need [it],” Sofie Kassaras (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/SofieKassaras_LavanyaSubramanian_RcahelNing_HoHPhoto-900x600.jpeg)