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

Melissa Kwan , TALON Seniors Editor

Melissa Kwan is a junior and the Seniors Editor for TALON Yearbook. This is Melissa’s third year on staff. In her free time, Melissa plays volleyball for her school and club team.

All content by Melissa Kwan
“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

by Melissa Kwan, Humans of Harker managing editor
July 15, 2018
“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

by Melissa Kwan, Humans of Harker managing editor
June 24, 2018
"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

by Sydney Takemoto, Reporter
June 21, 2018
“Most of our entire friend group played basketball in middle school,” Akshaya Vemuri (12) said. “And on one bus ride, we wanted to come up with names for each other that were related to a family. Everyone has their unique identity in the group, and we kind of use their nickname to identify them. [Meena Gudapati (12)] was just writing down a ton of nicknames for me, and she started calling me ‘Akla’ after ‘baklava’ and just shortened it.”

Humans of Harker: Akshaya Vemuri retains elements of tradition in her friendships

by Anika Rajamani, Reporter
June 9, 2018
"A lot of who I am comes from my sister, because she’s always taught me to be very outgoing and adventurous," Krishna Bheda (12) said. "When I was little, if I was too scared to ask the waiter for something, she’d be like ‘Krish, go do it. You can do it. Go ask,’ and if we were at weddings she would make me dance and make me have fun, and I think that’s a huge part of who I am. I would say I’m pretty fearless and a lot of that comes from her. And especially my love for music also comes from her because she used to be a singer, and I always looked up to her and wanted to be who she was."

Humans of Harker: Krishna Bheda draws inspiration from role models

by Sahana Srinivasan, Winged Post Editor-in-Chief
June 6, 2018
“I like to be a very relaxed guy, and I don't let stress get to the better of me,” Rohit Shah (12) said. “Soccer is just there for me to kind of relieve tension and make me happy again. Soccer feels like somewhere where I can just be who I am and not worry about what other people think of me.”

Humans of Harker: Rohit Shah finds his place on the soccer field

by Karina Chen, Reporter
June 3, 2018
"Every time I step on stage, I get this feeling where I just never want to stop dancing, so I think that just reminds me of how badly I want to become a professional," Anastasia "Ana" Cheplyansky (12) said.

Humans of Harker Video: Anastasia Cheplyansky balances athletics and artistry

by Heidi Zhang & Melissa Kwan
May 28, 2018
“One time, I just went over to [my friend]'s house,” Rishi Iyer (12) said. “I asked him, 'What do you want to do?' and he was like, 'Let's just get in the car and drive around and explore.’ We went into downtown Saratoga, and we took a turn on some random road that looked pretty steep, and we went along it for thirty minutes, and it became this really narrow one lane road going up the mountain, and we eventually just made our way up the mountain, just exploring all these little side roads until we eventually found this little clearing with this amazing view of the entire Bay Area. It was so surreal, just going from being in the house, saying, 'Let's just find something' and just discovering this, just by messing around."

Humans of Harker: Rishi Iyer positions himself in the space between categories

by Melissa Kwan, Humans of Harker Managing Editor
May 28, 2018
“[My mom would] take me to different places; she’d take me to a lot of the big cities to where a lot of the fashion designer brands came from," Alan Jiang (12) said. "She would spend hours and hours there — I used to be really mad, because she doesn’t know how to speak English, and we’d stay in the store for four-five hours just to pick one item that she really liked and I had to translate for her, so that’s why I was exposed to a lot of the stuff. Back then, I really hated it — I was really mad at my mom. But afterwards, I was kind of inspired by it.”

Humans of Harker Video: Alan Jiang weaves together family and fashion

May 18, 2018
"As a kid, I think I always liked exploring and I liked going outdoors," Amy Dunphy said. "My backyard had a lot of trees in it, so I was always trying to climb one, trying to get up in any way I could. I spent a lot of time there, and I'd see things that interested me, see things that were weird, like 'Why does this leaf have spots?' like 'Why is this bug this way?' and I, you know, sometimes tried experimenting with them. Mostly just tried poking at them with sticks."

Humans of Harker Video: Amy Dunphy ventures into uncharted scientific territory

by Nina Gee, Humans of Harker Videographer
May 8, 2018
“Part of the reason I was interested in archery and why I initially started it was because I like fantasy stories," Gwyneth Chen (12) said. "I read and watch movies with my family, and it pops up a lot. It's interesting because the way my instructor teaches it is not competitive, so I get to treat it more like meditation. There's the idea of perfecting yourself and your own focus, which makes it a little bit different from traditional sports, and that's the part of it that I really enjoy."

Humans of Harker: Gwyneth Chen’s crafts embody her quiet elegance

by Emily Chen, Reporter
May 4, 2018
“I want to be remembered for being wise and kind, and I chose the word wise specifically because I don't want to be remembered as smart," Lauren Russell (12) said. "I want to be remembered as being able to look at a situation and react maturely, appropriately but also kindly based on what I know.”

Humans of Harker: Lauren Russell participates with intention

by Anmol Velagapudi and Melissa Kwan, Reporter
May 3, 2018
"I can say pretty happily that a lot of my high school career has been a series of failures or rejections. I think it was Open Lab that really made me realize that you kinda have to keep on doing, because when people tell you no, you just have to find a new way to do things. At the end of the day, the only person you're really responsible for is yourself, and you have to be your own agent for these kinds of things. The series of failures I've had in research and performing arts—all those failures and all those rejections have definitely made me a more persevering person," Rahul Bhethanabotla (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Rahul Bhethanabotla thoughtfully considers others

April 22, 2018
"Frankly, I'm not a tennis star," Gary Tsai (12) said. "I not nationally ranked or anything, so sometimes I feel like I don't deserve to be a coach. I often feel embarrassed when I miss a shot as I hit with students, but surprisingly, they still come back the next time and cheerfully talk to me about school, tennis, or whatever. I recently remembered that my first coach was never a pro player or anything, but he was still extremely helpful to a beginner like I was, so in a way, that's the type of coach I want to be. I sometimes wish I, myself, could actually follow through on the advice I give others, so I can improve my own gameplay on the court. But then again, as long as my students continuously get better, then I'm satisfied at the end of the day."

Humans of Harker: Gary Tsai improves his game through coaching

by Alex Wang, Opinion Editor
April 20, 2018
"In sophomore year, I lost my best friend and neighbor in a car accident," Vedant Shah (12) said. "I was in my room for an hour, staring at a wall, and it came to me that my life was way too short to be holding grudges and being a mean person — because the only constant we have in our life is that nothing is constant. Even though we all have aspirations and we're all trying to get to our respective places, it's important to recognize when to stop and take in the moment and the people around you."

Humans of Harker: Vedant Shah drives to connect past and present

by Prameela Kottapalli, Winged Post Features Editor
April 9, 2018
"You guys all saw me on Davis at 7:30 in the morning, practicing, because I didn’t want to make a complete fool of myself," Vignesh Panchanatham (12) said. "I was just doing different dribbling drills. I brought out the cones, and whenever the goals were out, I tried to shoot as well. I knew I wasn’t going to be better than anybody there, but I wanted to be semi-competent. And as the season went on, I could see that I was getting better and better. Traps that I would have missed out on before, I started to get them. My shot got better; I ended up scoring a goal. It was just as time went by and I kept putting in that same amount of effort, I became less of a beginner and more of someone who has a lot to work on."

Humans of Harker: Vignesh Panchanatham perspires for greatness

by Melissa Kwan, Humans of Harker Managing Editor
April 6, 2018
“I was kind of obsessed with [iPods]," Kunal Bhandarkar (12) said. "I also kept destroying the ones I had because I always left them in my pocket when they got washed. Eventually, I got interested in the code aspect and started taking classes outside of school. It’s pretty interesting how you can blend hardware and software with robotics and see it come to life just right there in front of you. The feeling you get when it works is the best feeling in the world.”

Humans of Harker: Kunal Bhandarkar values both hardware and software

by Michael Eng, Reporter
March 27, 2018
“A couple years ago, I had a blood test, and my doctor said I had to watch out for pre-diabetes," Jay Ali said. "My family has a history of having diabetes and a bunch of diseases. I’ve seen my grandma inject insulin in her body every day, and I decided I didn’t want to go down that path. I started working out every day and trying to get in shape, because I didn’t want to have diabetes for the rest of my life. I think health is really important because without health, nothing else is important in life. For example, Steve Jobs. He didn’t have such a healthy body, but he was a really special guy to everyone else. I kind of want to be that guy, but with no health issues so I can live my life to the fullest."

Humans of Harker: Jay Ali focuses on self-improvement

by Nilisha Baid, Reporter
March 26, 2018
"Gabriel García Márquez. One Hundred Years of Solitude — a seminal work of magical realism and the most well known novel produced during that time," Jacqueline He (12) said. "I really like his writing because it’s very self aware, he makes fun of himself and it’s also very funny yet very politically incisive at the same time. And that’s just the way I want to write, kind of humorous but still making a point.""

Humans of Harker: Jacqueline He embraces magical realism

by Nicole Chen, Features Editor
March 23, 2018
"I've been working on a compiler for my own programming language, not related to the Harker course, just because I wanted to make my own language as a sort of challenge," Sumer Kohli (12) said. "I wanted to see if I could make something actually useful. So far it's called Sumer code, but I'll come up with a better name, I promise."

Humans of Harker: Sumer Kohli programs with a purpose

by Saloni Shah, Reporter
March 22, 2018
“I play golf because I love it. I dance because, well one, it’s exercise, and two, I love it. I love music; I love dancing; I love moving; I love movement. It makes me feel good. That’s one thing that I truly believe in,” Victor Shin (12) said. “If you’re going to do something that you don’t like, and it doesn’t make you feel good, then why do it? Don’t do it. It makes me feel good; that’s why I do it.”

Humans of Harker: Victor Shin lives colorfully

by Varsha Rammohan, Reporter
March 21, 2018
"During summer, I had an internship in [San Francisco], and I brought my junior mentality with me, so I was trying to be perfect and I was stressed about everything," Preethi Madabusi (12) said. "The manager sat me down and we had a performance review, so he was analyzing my performance and he said that I was a really hard worker but there was one thing I needed to fix, and that was that I needed to calm down. He said that I tried to be perfect and no one can be perfect. That's when I realized if other people can notice that about me, that's something I should really change."

Humans of Harker: Preethi Madabusi opens up during conversations

by Shreya Srinivasan, Reporter
March 19, 2018
"My old backpack broke, and my mom was buying me a new one. She was like, ‘Oh, it’s a rainbow backpack, it’s gay like you.’ and I was like, ‘Oh, yes it is,'" Alix Robinson-Guy (12) said. "So now I have my rainbow backpack and it’s very distinctive. I feel like I’m really straightforward, so a lot of the things that people assume about me turn out to just be right. There’s not really a lot of layers going on here. It’s all on the surface, I’m an open book."

Humans of Harker: Alix Robinson-Guy embodies the rainbow

by Anvi Banga, Aquila Asst. News Editor
March 10, 2018
“My culture is really important to me," Aman Ahluwalia said. "Personally, I think that just by being or looking different, I am able to inherently be more outgoing with myself and take risks that I may have not taken if I just felt normal. I’ve used opportunities that have come up to meet new people instead of shying away from it because I’ve realized, people probably remember me easier and are probably just as curious to learn about me or to meet me as I am to meet them."

Humans of Harker: Aman Ahluwalia lives large

by Zoe Sanders, Reporter
March 8, 2018
"In Spain, I took this picture of this street musician. It was in the night, and it was super grainy and really dark," Neeraj Aggarwal (12) said. "But when I increased the exposure and everything was still grainy, you could see a really big smile on his face and [he was] holding his guitar. There were two children next to him. This picture, to me, is not something I could blow up and print, but that's one of my favorite pictures just because of the moment that I captured... two kids enjoying the musician's music and the musician enjoying the fact that the kids were there."

Humans of Harker: Neeraj Aggarwal lies at the “intersection of design and technology”

by Michael Eng & Melissa Kwan
March 2, 2018
“My sophomore year, I tore a ligament in my leg while playing soccer,” Sharad Chandra (12) said. “I think from then on, I’ve been scared to make tackles. Now, before a game, I tell myself to not be scared, and I think that confidence is the biggest thing to achieve anything in life. Without confidence, there’s no way you can’t be successful. I think on the field, I live by ‘you miss all the shots you don’t take,’ because it’s like if I don’t try and put myself in a position to try to do something new, I can’t succeed.”

Humans of Harker: Sharad Chandra finds strength in unity

by Srinath Somasundaram, Reporter
February 28, 2018
“One of our players, Floyd [Gordon (12)], made a touchdown during the game, so we were playing some crazy stuff, and then he got injured like on the next play," Bobby Schick (12) said. "So I just got up and started playing ‘Lean On Me’ because I knew how to play it on piano, and I put on saxophone for a second. I started playing it, and our entire section started humming along as they carried him off the field. That was one of those moments where I was like, ‘Wow. Okay. I realize what you can do just by playing a song.’"

Humans of Harker: Bobby Schick thrives on jazz

by Aditya Singhvi, Reporter
February 26, 2018
Jack Connors (10) attempts a shot over the hands of a Priory defender. During this league game, Harker beat Priory 73-62.

Harker varsity boys basketball to face Carmel in CCS quarterfinals

by Kushal Shah, Reporter
February 23, 2018
“At first I’m really introverted,” Katherine Zhu (12) said. “When you get to know me, I’m super talkative. You’re going to wish I stopped talking."

Humans of Harker: Katherine Zhu values the teamwork in an individual sport

by Jenna Sadhu, Broadcast and Multimedia Editor
February 7, 2018
“I try to make all serious situations a lot more friendly, and generally lighten the mood of everyone around me," Sahil Kapur (12) said. “In general, I like to see the people around me happy."

Humans of Harker: Sahil Kapur uses humor to lighten the mood

by Shreya Srinivasan & Melissa Kwan
February 2, 2018
“It's kind of interesting that when people think of 'Liana,' they think of 'dance,'” Liana Wang (12) said. “There's nothing necessarily wrong with that, but I wish that they took time to realize that I'm not just a dancer, and that I do many other things. I just did a piece recently that was a combination of spoken-word poetry and dance, and it was primarily about stereotypes and grouping people into these different categories — and trying to break away from that. I think people should define themselves by who they want to be. I don't think you can say, 'Oh, I am this, I am that,' no, you don't even really need to define yourself — you can just be as you are.”

Humans of Harker: Liana Wang pushes the boundaries of identity

by Karina Chen & Melissa Kwan
January 30, 2018
“I did a lot of acting in elementary school," Millie Lin (12) said. "I had a lot of energy. Instead of standing in line, I’d be tapping my toes. I don’t know if I have as much energy now, but I do really like having philosophical discussions with people, or just talking with people in general. I think that’s where I use my energy.”

Humans of Harker: Millie Lin devotes her energy to discussions

by Vivian Jin & Melissa Kwan
January 18, 2018
"People look at my artwork, and then they look at me, and they're like, 'Oh, she's not taking anything seriously,'" Kaitlyn Nguyen (12) said. "But I feel like that's not the case. The meaning behind my art is more like, I don't take anything seriously, and that's the meaning."

Humans of Harker Video: Kaitlyn Nguyen injects her personality into her art

January 17, 2018
“It’s important to be reflective on who you are, how you communicate with others and what there’s left in the world for you to accomplish. By doing so, I started to suffuse actions that were meant to be pointless or of nominal significance with meaning. I thought that I was peering into someone else’s mind by taking their words and trying to fit them to their character and to their motives. But in actuality, I was just looking into a mirror—a very distorted mirror—of my own thoughts and expectations. High school has been an obvious period of growth for everyone, but I think my biggest takeaway from it has been that I need to draw a clear line between art and reality,” Emily Chen (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Emily Chen distinguishes between art and reality

by Tiffany Wong, Aquila News Editor
January 12, 2018
“I use the word 'fun' a lot to describe debate, and what that means is kind of a mystery even to me," Jacob Ohana (12) said. "Debate's definitely not a universally agreed upon fun thing. You just get four teenagers in a room to talk really fast at each other for a while, and then somebody wins. For me, most of the fun of debate isn't the the actual debating, it's doing the research about it. Last year's topic was engagement with China... I learned a surprisingly large amount about nuclear arms control agreements.”

Humans of Harker: Jacob Ohana backs up his arguments

by Anvi Banga & Melissa Kwan
January 11, 2018
“I want to play my strengths, but I don’t want to let those strengths define me. I don’t want to confine myself to a little box where people associate me with a select few qualities,” Alex Chen (12) said. “But if I had to pick, I would hope that people would remember me for putting a lot of effort in developing as a musician, as a singer, as well as a drummer, and a guitarist. I’d want to be remembered for my ability to reflect on the world.”

Humans of Harker: Alex Chen finds strength in introspection

by Sydney Takemoto, Reporter
January 5, 2018
"I like to start discourse when I feel like I want to," Morgan Douglas (12) said. "If I feel a certain way, I want to externalize that. It’s something I’ve discovered as I became a senior. Definitely, as a freshman and before then, I would just be very silent about the way that I felt about things, and I wouldn’t really try actively to make changes. I just felt that I didn’t have power to do anything, which was, in retrospect, wrong.”

Humans of Harker: Morgan Douglas plays the roles of both student and teacher

by Kat Zhang, STEM editor
January 4, 2018
"Dance is unique because it's fleeting," Miranda Larsen (12) said. "You do the dance once, and it's done. There are recordings of it, but you can never see it in person again–that's powerful. People who are there experience it, and everyone else doesn't — it's up in the air."

Humans of Harker: Miranda Larsen perfects her dance moves

by Prameela Kottapalli, Winged Post Features Editor
January 3, 2018
“I mostly just live my life thinking, ‘Why not?'" Shaya Zarkesh said. "If the possible regret is not probable or not that big, then I’ll do it. I don’t judge things based on importance, I judge things based on how much fun will result out of it.”

Humans of Harker: Shaya Zarkesh doesn’t shy away from spontaneity

by Eleanor Xiao, TALON Editor-in-Chief
December 11, 2017
“My core beliefs probably have not changed that much — my values are more or less aligned with what my family taught me,” Nastya Grebin (12) said. But in terms of personality, I have become much more open, much more welcoming of new experiences; I am not as afraid as I was of new things. I hope that I have become a little bit friendlier to people and a little bit more open. I used to really dislike positions that put me in charge of people, so I didn't like leadership positions, mostly because I was afraid of disappointment, of disappointing someone else. Now I've kind of let go of that, and if people rely on me, I take that as an honor — I take that as a responsibility, but also an honor.”

Humans of Harker: Nastya Grebin blends the best of both worlds

by Anna Vazhaeparambil
December 8, 2017
“We went up to San Francisco at 4 a.m. in the morning,” Yannick Bohbot-Dridi (12) said. “We got off a boat that dropped us off under the Golden Gate Bridge with some 300 other people who are cancer survivors and families of people who have faced cancer, and we swam in honor of everyone who had battled cancer. When we got into the water, we could barely breathe because it was so cold. It's like that feeling when your lungs feel like they can't expand. And you can't see anything. You can't even see a couple feet in front of you — I couldn't even see the swimmers in front of me, nothing. Every ten or so strokes, you have to lift yourself out the water and tread water a bit to see where you're at. I knew that doing this, on paper, had very little benefit towards me. I was swimming in the bay in the freezing cold bay on a Sunday morning. At the beginning, I thought, 'Yeah, I'm just going to help people,' but I did not expect to feel so happy after. I just felt grateful.”

Humans of Harker: Yannick Bohbot-Dridi finds purpose in the water

by Srinath Somasundaram, Reporter
December 6, 2017
"There are a lot of things that I do that are very questionable, but it's not as questionable because I've set this tone that I'm just going to do random stuff," Kristin LeBlanc (12) said. "I just do me, and I think people have learned to accept that.”

Humans of Harker: Kristin LeBlanc becomes comfortable with the uncomfortable

by Zoe Sanders, Reporter
December 5, 2017
“Yes, I want to achieve justice and equality in the world, why is that a bad thing?” Megan Huynh (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Megan Huynh debates for a cause

by Nina Gee, Reporter
November 30, 2017
In this repeating guest column, we encourage all student writers from around the community to share their memorable experiences while at the Upper School. Please email all column ideas to wingedpost2017@gmail.com.

Heart of Harker: The other side of the interview

by Melissa Kwan, Guest Writer
November 19, 2017
"One time I got this advice from this choreographer named Nicole Kirkland, and she was the choreographer for Prince for many many years, and she was talking about being a backup dancer and how important it is to be more than just your look because in the industry it's so much about your look," Haley Keller (12) said. "So she's just a redhead dancer, but she says, 'You know, you have to stop being just a redhead dancer and you have to start being called by your name. You have to stop just being a look. You have to be Nicole Kirkland. You have to be Haley Keller.' You have to stop being just somebody that is determined or auditioned by this. You have to be more than that.”

Humans of Harker: Haley Keller plays with character

by Kathy Fang, Photo Editor
November 17, 2017
"I don't care about things, I care about people,” Mallory Millard (12) said. “A lot of times, people form connections for the wrong reasons. I value the relationships you have with people where you can just be with them, and be completely comfortable without saying a single word. If you can go over and nap at someone's house and they're just cool with it, or they nap too, I think that's a real friend right there."

Humans of Harker: Mallory Millard cares about human connection

by Farah Hosseini, Reporter
November 16, 2017
“I think it's really easy to become fixated on what's going on in your life and forget about what is going on around you,” Ananya Krishnan (12) said. “I wish that schools would emphasize current events more in order to teach us about the world we are living in and going to be living in. I bet if you go up to any Harker kid, they'll be much more knowledgeable about World War II or the Great Depression than the events that are taking place all around them in real time.”

Humans of Harker: Ananya Krishnan keeps a global perspective

by Arya Maheshwari, Reporter
November 14, 2017
"What do I want to be remembered for?" Adriano Hernandez (12) said. "I don't know. I wouldn't want to be remembered as obviously a bad person. I don't think there's anything really different about my moral code than anybody else's. With the current state of affairs, it would be nice to be remembered comically, as a meme or something."

Humans of Harker: Adriano Hernandez tinkers with electronics

by Sara Yen, Reporter
November 13, 2017
“A lot of people are skeptical of [my startup] idea; they're not too sure whether it's going to work or not,” Nirban Bhatia (12) said. “They don't necessarily support me in trying it out, and they find ten flaws that people have already told me about. They’re trying to almost pull me down just because they feel it’s something that’s really not going to work. I’ve just got to learn how to take everything with a grain of salt, so I can continue to push forward and make my idea a reality.”

Humans of Harker: Nirban Bhatia reflects on “grit”

by Varsha Rammohan, Reporter
November 9, 2017
“I try to be as outgoing as possible the first time you meet me. It’s hard, because when you first meet someone they think you’re a different person,” Karina Butani (12) said. “When people first meet me, they think I’m really introverted, but when they get to know me it’s like an opposite person. But it’s fun to prove people wrong, like—surprise, this is who I really am.’”

Humans of Harker: Karina Butani combats her commute with conversation

by Kaidi Dai, Reporter
November 8, 2017
“I feel like sometimes at Harker, we students have this urge to control everything in our lives,” Matthew Lee (12) said. “Like if you don’t get an A on that test, it’s because you didn’t work hard enough, or if you don’t get into this school, it’s because you didn’t work hard enough, or if you don’t get into that school, it’s because you didn’t do enough. But sometimes that’s just not true. Sometimes things are out of your control."

Humans of Harker: Matthew Lee finds meaning in contradiction

by Irina Malyugina, Reporter
November 7, 2017
“My dad is very curious,” Neelesh Ramachandran (12) said. "He is an engineer, so he obviously knows about electrical engineering and fiber optics, which is what he does, but if you ask him about whatever happened in the War of 1812, he can give you a sort of concise response. The way he thinks is by connecting broad principles, and that’s the way I try to approach learning as a whole. Nobody learns biology and only uses biology, because inherent in biology [are] concepts in chemistry and concepts in physics, so you have to look at everything. Especially this is true within STEM and outside of STEM—you have to be looking at the broader picture and [know] how to combine different domains, different aspects in science. That’s where the power really comes through.”

Humans of Harker: Neelesh Ramachandran seeks to understand

by Saloni Shah, Reporter
November 6, 2017
“You have to embrace high school while it lasts,” Olivia Long (12) said. “I really wasn't doing much in my freshman year—it was just gymnastics, school, sleep, repeat. You hear about the stereotypical high school experience, and it seems so fun and everybody’s so involved, so I wanted to take part in that. Cheerleading lets me show school spirit.”

Humans of Harker: Olivia Long balances old and new

by Krishna Bheda, Columnist
November 3, 2017
HonorsMandarin10.19.17__MelissaKwan

Photo Frenzy 10/23/17

November 1, 2017
“When I think about my high school as a unit, I find it's defined by a lot of events and a lot of trends, it's just that some of those trends, like especially me starting to sing—they're not connected at all to any goal I had when I stepped onto the campus,” Praveen Batra (12) said. “I remember at the first club fair I heard Guys’ Gig, they were touring, and I thought, ‘Wow, that's one club I'm never going to join.’ So if you look, there's a big disconnect between what my vision of what my high school would be like and where it actually turned out being.”

Humans of Harker: Praveen Batra masters both types of keyboard

by Derek Yen, Winged Post Opinion Editor
October 31, 2017
“Life should have variation,” Karena Kong (12) said. "It's boring to live every day, day to day on the same schedule. You should always do what you really want, live by your interests and have fun instead of living by this rigid standard. There's times when you're experimenting, and it's okay to be spontaneous and make a mess. You never know what might turn out.”

Humans of Harker: Karena Kong values variety

by Julia Huang, TALON Academics Editor
October 27, 2017
“The kids that look up to you matter the most,” Jenna Sanders (12) said. “Sometimes, they’ll just try to be your best friend. It’s important for me to be not only a friend but a teacher for them. When they had trouble reading, I [don’t] just read to them, but help them how to do it independently. It is really cool to figure out a balance between being a friend and being a teacher.”

Humans of Harker: Jenna Sanders brings heritage to next generation

by Adrian Chu, Columnist
October 25, 2017
“People might describe me as a troll,” Kevin Xu (12) said. “I guess being lighthearted is a good characteristic to have in general. I've naturally been pretty friendly to people, and they've returned the favor to me. I just think a lot of my relationships are built off that personality—being lighthearted and empathetic.”

Humans of Harker: Kevin Xu solves nontraditional problems

by Andrew Chang, TALON Organizations Editor
October 24, 2017
“One day I went to India and I saw a chicken's head getting chopped off and a whole line of sacrificial animals,” Aria Coalson (12) said. “I had befriended a goat in the line, and that’s when I realized that they were going to kill and eat the goat. After that, I turned hard core vegetarian.”

Humans of Harker: Aria Coalson advocates for others

by Maya Kumar, Wingspan Managing Editor
October 23, 2017
“I’m the type of person to look at the recipe, but when I actually go cook it I’ll avoid following it and just go by my own taste,” David Wen (12) said.

Humans of Harker: David Wen experiments in the kitchen

by Neil Bai, Copy Editor
October 16, 2017
“I just have a different outlook on the world,” Meena Gudapati (12) said. “I’m probably not the only one who thinks this way, but I don’t really think anything is a big deal. Tests aren’t a big deal; the ACT isn’t a big deal; college isn’t a big deal. It’s all fine. The world is so big. Nothing matters. It’s all for fun, you know? I don’t really get worried about those things. They’re all just little bits and pieces, and they don’t actually ruin the world or anything.”

Humans of Harker: Meena Gudapati finds the fun in life

by Sahana Srinivasan, Winged Post and Wingspan Co-Editor-In-Chief
October 13, 2017
"I felt like there were parts of my personality that I left behind in this pursuit of being a public figure," Jimmy Lin (12) said. "One of the ways I tried to reconcile this was to intentionally do things that I was bad at, to force myself—at least during volleyball season—to spend three hours every day being that humble person, whether I liked it or not."

Humans of Harker: Jimmy Lin stays humble

by Melissa Kwan, Humans of Harker Managing Editor
October 5, 2017
Aditi Vinod (9) adds blue details on the Class of 2021 eagle with a small paintbrush. The freshmen painted an ombré blue sky on their eagle to represent the clear blue skies they hoped were lying ahead.

Spirit Night kicks off Homecoming week preparations

by Melissa Kwan, Humans of Harker Managing Editor
September 15, 2017
“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

by Eric Fang, Reporter
May 31, 2017
“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

by Anika Rajamani, Reporter
May 30, 2017
"What I really eventually hope is that in clinical practice one day, some of the [research] work that I've done will be incorporated to help someone somewhere either get an earlier diagnosis or understand their situation at a better level than they would have before, so my ultimate goal is really just to find a way to use the resources that we have as privileged students of The Harker School to make a difference in someone's life who might not have the same opportunities," Manan Shah (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Manan Shah develops a love for helping

by Rose Guan, Winged Post Copy Editor
December 9, 2016
“On my wrists, I have sayings on it, I'll have my favorite quote, which is actually my senior quote on it, and on the left wrist, I'll have [the names of] everyone who's injured on my team, their numbers on my wrists, so in a way, I'm playing for them," Saketh Gurram (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Saketh Gurram develops a passion for football

by Zachary Hoffman, Multimedia Editor
May 10, 2017
“Business gives you infinite possibilities. One day you could be starting your own tech company and on another, you could be providing microfinance loans to farmers in rural China. Whatever the reason, business allows the world come together and gives anyone the opportunity to chase their passions," Jonathan Liu (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Jonathan Liu desires to takes on business in his future

by Anjay Saklecha, Sports Editor
April 19, 2017
The Upper School Orchestra performed in Harker's annual Spring Concert, held at De Anza's Visual and Performing Arts Center, today. The Spring Concert was the last performance of the school year for Harker's orchestras.

Upper school orchestra performs in annual Spring Concert

by Anika Rajamani and Neal Sidhu
April 14, 2017
“My friends often describe me as a typical Indian auntie or uncle. I do [agree], a lot of my mannerisms are like an Indian auntie or uncle. My ideas and beliefs are much more modern,” Ashwin Rao (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Ashwin Rao develops his interest in performing arts

by Mahika Halepete, Reporter
April 15, 2017
“I’d like to be open-minded and informed enough to be able to forge my own opinions and place in the world,” Shasvat Jawahar (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Shasvat Jawahar listens to the legends of rap

by Prameela Kottapalli, Winged Post Asst. Features Editor
April 4, 2017
“Right now [I like] chemistry. It’s really fun. I like to see all the molecules work together. Before sophomore year, I hated chemistry, and then I took AP chemistry and it was really fun so now I like it. It was easier and more fun plus we got to blow things up," Judy Pan (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Judy Pan finds ways to relieve stress despite busy school schedule

by Brandie Vanlonden, Reporter
April 3, 2017
“It's all about instinct. I ask myself – how passionate are you about whatever I’m doing, would you do anything for your family, friends, or teammates on the court, would you take risks, take dives, do all that for your family, for the people watching? If I answer ‘no’ to any of those questions, I'd stop what I’m doing and re-assess my decisions," Woody Ye (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Woody Ye balances his life with both arts and sciences

by Anjay Saklecha, Sports Editor
March 30, 2017
“The way I look at hip-hop and music in general is that I really want to learn something when I listen to it, whether that be ‘Wow, they used really cool word play or that rhyme was really cool or that was really complex” or it can be “Wow, their upbringing was difficult” and that made me reflect on the way that I live," Srivatsav Pyda (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Srivatsav Pyda learns to love hip-hop

by Laura Wu, TALON Business Manager
March 25, 2017
"Sure, it's nice to have results and your final shiny paper, even if it takes so many hours of just struggling and terror, but really, I love [research] because of the monotony of it in very specific moments, where I'm sitting on a plane for like ten hours and I happen to be stuck there just working with my computer. It's a very important, kind of determined feeling that you get when you're really in the zone and working on something that you've been working on for so long and you will continue to work on for so long. I like that monotony,” Antony Sagayaraj (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Antony Sagayaraj finds unexpected passions while trying new things

by Tiffany Wong, Aquila News Editor
March 24, 2017
“I always want to keep singing in my life because that’s always been my number one passion. I perform to make other people happy and to keep myself happy. It has always been one of those things that gives me happier moments in life...In high school, I started taking voice lessons and getting more serious about what I loved. From there, I just grew and grew, and I think that every single audition and every single experience helped shape who I am,” Sara Pachauri (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Sara Pachauri finds a passion for performing arts

by Maya Valluru, News Editor
March 22, 2017
“[Acting] is just storytelling. Everyone loves telling stories. We tell each other stories at in the lunchroom. We tell each other stories in the classroom. Everywhere we go we are telling stories. This is just a bigger way to tell stories," Nikhil Manglik (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Nikhil Manglik shines as a performer

by Neal Sidhu, Reporter
March 19, 2017
Kaitlyn Nguyen (11) asks candidate for ASB president Jimmy Lin (11) a question. Students were given the opportunity to pose any inquiries or concerns they had about the candidates' plans for the next school year following the speeches.

Candidates for ASB deliver speeches at school meeting

by Rashmi Iyer, Reporter
March 20, 2017
“I always wonder what I would be like if English was my first language, because nothing shapes the way you see the world more than language. I remember from a young age, being told to say please and thank you, but the expression always baffled me because languages like Georgian don't even have a word for please. The idioms and expressions we use convey very specific cultural values; I get that there's a saying that actions speak louder than words, but in some places that may not necessarily be true. We don't often think about it, but these little things can have such a big impact in making us into who we are,” Misha Tseitlin (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Misha Tseitlin sees four dimensions to his personality

by Alex Wang, Sports Editor
March 17, 2017
“Then again, there are a couple of programming puzzles that I like to play around with. There was one about a honeycomb. If you were a bee, and you know the locations of all other bees, so it’s an infinite honeycomb. You have a starting and end location, and you have to solve the optimal path to your destination. I just like that problem, and I’ve been trying to solve it. I haven’t solved it yet. When I’m bored, I just try to figure it out. That’s what I do with my productive free-time,” Albert Xu (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Albert Xu learns to love problem solving through robotics

by Anthony Xu, Reporter
March 16, 2017
“Times in high school feel difficult now, and you feel like you’ll remember all the highest points and lowest points of your experience, but in reality, the most mundane ones, or seemingly mundane ones will stand out to you most in the future, and those moments aren’t made up of your biggest failures or your highest grade you got in the toughest class. It’s really about who you surround yourself with, and the experiences you chose to have,” Maya Valluru (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Maya Valluru learns of the importance of friendship

by Devanshi Mehta, TALON Business Manager
March 7, 2017
“One of the reasons I decided to teach was to give back and share my excitement and passion, and hopefully they will also get excited and grow as dancers, and I hope to share my knowledge and my enthusiasm," Priyanka Chilukuri (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Priyanka Chilukuri follows her passion for performing arts

by Nerine Uyanik, Reporter
March 2, 2017
“My personal philosophy is now about being open to new experiences. Harker is a really good place, providing you with a lot of support and encouragement along the way. But as we go off to college, a lot of the support, may not be there anymore, because we may not be in such a warm and embracing environment like Harker is. I’m always trying to look for new experiences and new opportunities to grow and thrive," Raymond Xu (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Raymond Xu ponders philosophy

by Adrian Chu, Opinion Editor
February 27, 2017
“J Cole said this during an interview with a radio broadcast host, ‘In life we are always trying to set the expectation or be successful, and we’re always in a place where we have to do better to get this and that seems like the main goal in life.’ I’ve got this dream of becoming a something and I want to be successful and I’m just going to keep going toward that dream, but in reality even though that makes you happy, in the end you gotta realize that there are people in your life… In life, I do have my own dreams and goals of success, but you can only get to those points in your life through family, friends and mentors in your life," Will Park said.

Humans of Harker: Will Park redefines success through his life experiences

by Justin Su, Reporter
February 26, 2017
“Success is knowing that you did your best and being happy with what you did. It doesn't mean that you have to be the best that's out there, but if you're happy with your end result and you know you tried your hardest, and that is all you can do and you should be proud of that,” Medha Shah (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Medha Shah explores her passion in the arts

by Gloria Zhang, Reporter
February 15, 2017
“I write fictional stories, and I spend a lot of time thinking about situations. Even though I'm trying to delve into other people's psychologies when I do this sort of thing, at the same time, I feel that helps me satisfy my desire to figure out how people think. It's a way for me to explore what sort of ways people think about the people around them or their settings. That's one of the things I find most rewarding about creative work and creating characters and plots and imagining settings,” Tiffany Zhu (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Tiffany Zhu immerses herself in stories

by Angele Yang, Reporter
February 12, 2017
“Scientific research has really been a learning process for me. It's been a wild rollercoaster. One moment you feel you know exactly what you are going to do, but the next moment you wonder why you are even here. There’s a lot of twists and turns along the way, but you just keep going and you always make it through in the end,” Albert Pun (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Albert Pun fuels his passion for learning

by Neil Bai, Copy Editor
February 10, 2017
"At this point, it's hard for me to think about what life would've been if I hadn't happened to ask my parents for an art tablet because it's led me to making new friends and pretty much set me on the "art" path I'm on right now. I'd probably have no idea what I would want to do at college and after if it weren't for it to be honest," Grace Park (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Grace Park pursues graphic design

by Ria Gupta, Reporter
February 9, 2017
Cafe Vitale: Home-style Italian

Cafe Vitale: Home-style Italian

by Melissa Kwan, TALON Seniors Editor
February 7, 2017
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