The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila
“We're in a world where we're very focused on ourselves and our own successes. It’s important to be able to stop and consider yourself in different ways. That's performing: considering yourself in different situations and being able to take that pause and breathe. You're helping yourself and you're serving others," senior Bhavya Srinivasan said.
Humans of Harker: Building the script for community
Humans of Harker: Crafting with care
Humans of Harker: Crafting with care
Humans of Harker: Scoring with strategy
Humans of Harker: Scoring with strategy
Humans of Harker: Nets and networks
Humans of Harker: Nets and networks
Humans of Harker: Painting with purpose
Humans of Harker: Painting 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
All content by Nerine Uyanik
Ethan (right) faces off against another fencer at practice. A fencing bout in foil occurs in three rounds of three minutes each, with victory being awarded to the first person to reach 15 points.

Apex: Sophomore fencer plays chess with knives

by Aditya Singhvi, Sports Editor
September 20, 2018
A team of students discusses one of the algorithmic programs from the contest. The Girls Programming League Challenge was hosted by the eponymous organization on Sept. 8.

Girls Programming League teams with Harker Programming Club to host inaugural Challenge

by Nerine Uyanik, Reporter
September 19, 2018
Finn Frankis (11) and Puneet Nayyar (12) help Andrew Chang (12) control Harker Robotics's robot at its booth at Club Fair.

Campus organizations invite students to join in annual Club Fair

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

School shooting in Parkland, Florida kills 17

by Anjay Saklecha, Sahana Srinivasan, and Nerine Uyanik
September 1, 2018
"My motivation to do research has always been more of 'here's a field that I'm interested in, let's tackle that and take it to its greatest extent,' rather than 'here's a problem I want to solve for the millions of people whose lives we'll save,'" Rajiv Movva (12) said. "I think the impacts of your research are more of a positive byproduct than the main motivation for me. For me, it was always just trying to find an answer."

Humans of Harker Video: Rajiv Movva strives for answers

by Nerine Uyanik, Humans of Harker Videographer
May 29, 2018
"Part of the reason I play music is to have some sort of human connection — to have an audience and be able to say something through the music," Andrew Semenza (12) said. "That's of foremost importance to me — the ability to be able to affect an emotional change in someone through music. And you know, if someone walks in to the concert hall and doesn't leave a different person, I think that's a failure of a performer."

Humans of Harker Video: Andrew Semenza charts his travels through the musical landscape

by Nerine Uyanik & Melissa Kwan
May 27, 2018
1893: Manzanita Hall is established by Frank Cramer as a preparatory school for boys in Palo Alto.

The History of Manzanita: Commemorating 125 years of Harker

by Nerine Uyanik, Humans of Harker Asst. Videographer and Feature Photographer
March 31, 2018
Harker alumna Jessica Dickinson Goodman '07 (right) takes her oath to become City of San Jose Human Services Commissioner for District 2. Dickinson Goodman was sworn in on Jan. 16.

Harker alumna Jessica Dickinson Goodman ’07 sworn into San Jose public office

by Nerine Uyanik, Asst. Humans of Harker Videographer and Feature Photographer
February 6, 2018
“A lot of people think that being positive and optimistic is not the same as being realistic,” Divija Bhimaraju (12) said. “I think that that's a terrible way to look at life because ideals get the world moving. If you don't have an ideal––part of the word ‘ideal’ is the word ‘idea’––if you don't have an idea, if you don't want to take the world forward, if you're satisfied with where we are, then there's never progress. There's never growth or change. That isn't to say that you shouldn't be happy with the status quo because I'm a firm believer of living in the moment, but I think there needs to be a balance between accepting the situation right now and also thinking about what you can do in the future. The minute that we as a culture stop looking forward, stop trying to grow and improve, is the minute that we start losing purpose.”

Humans of Harker: Divija Bhimaraju’s effervescent character energizes others

by Nerine Uyanik, Humans of Harker Videographer
February 5, 2018
Senior panel member Haley Keller (12) points to a time management worksheet while addressing her LIFE group. The freshmen spoke with a group of seniors about tips and tricks to surviving high school for their LIFE meeting today.

Freshmen and sophomores attend LIFE meetings

by Anoushka Buch and Nerine Uyanik
January 25, 2018
Research partners Swapnil Garg (12) and Katherine Tian (11) received notice on Nov. 6 that the Siemens Foundation named them regional finalists. They developed an automatic cancer-severity classifier at the Heng Lab in Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center of the Harvard Medical School.

Siemens regional winners named

by Anya Weaver and Nerine Uyanik
November 18, 2017
Students reflect on gender assembly

Students reflect on gender assembly

by Anvi Banga and Nerine Uyanik
November 16, 2017
FencingClub10.10.17_NerineUyanik

Photo Frenzy 10/23/17

November 1, 2017
Upper school tackles best methods for time management

Upper school tackles best methods for time management

by Sahana Srinivasan, Nerine Uyanik, and Gloria Zhang
October 12, 2017
Members of the speech and debate team at the Jack Howe Memorial Tournament pose for a photo after their first day of competing at the invitational. The tournament took place on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1.

Going the distance: Upper school speech and debate competes at Jack Howe Memorial Tournament in Long Beach

by Nerine Uyanik and Anna Vazhaeparambil
October 12, 2017
The first set of portable public toilets installed, located in the San Diego downtown region near City Hall at the intersection of First Avenue and C Street, is cleaned twice a day and has 24-hour security. The last time San Diego experienced a hepatitis A outbreak of this scale was in 1996, where the number of cases in the region rose to 645.

San Diego County combats hepatitis A outbreak

by Nerine Uyanik, Humans of Harker Asst. Videographer and Feature Photographer
October 2, 2017
Sophie Durn (9) throws the ball to a teammate during the home game against Milpitas High School. Sophie is one of four freshmen on the varsity girls water polo team.

Varsity girls water polo defeats Milpitas High School at home

by Nerine Uyanik, Humans of Harker Asst. Videographer and Feature Photographer
September 29, 2017
The popular “Stewed Beef, Tomato & Clam Noodle Soup,” which features the house made noodles in a rich tomato broth, is filled with plenty of tender beef and clams as well as fresh mushrooms and tomato chunks. Customers can purchase a bowl for $10.25.

Gourmet Noodle House brings Shanghainese cuisine to San Francisco

by Nerine Uyanik, Humans of Harker Asst. Videographer and Feature Photographer
September 26, 2017
The varsity girls volleyball team was the first Harker sports team to hold a sporting event in the new gym. The team's scrimmage was part of the center's opening ceremony on Aug. 18.

Varsity girls’ volleyball inaugurates athletic center in opening ceremony

by Nicole Chen, Rose Guan, and Nerine Uyanik
September 6, 2017
Gloria Guo (12) promotes Interact at last year's Club Fair. This year's Club Fair will be held during long lunch next Wednesday.

Front page update (Issue 1)

by Maya Kumar and Nerine Uyanik
September 6, 2017
From Package to Platter: Behind the scenes of kitchen staff

From Package to Platter: Behind the scenes of kitchen staff

by Nerine Uyanik and Ashley Jiang
September 6, 2017
Students reading "A Field Guide to Lucid Dreaming: Mastering the Art of Oneironautics" listen as a student discusses his experience with a strange dream. This ReCreate Reading group was advised by history teacher Dr. Ruth Meyer and had 16 students in total.

Upper school seniors, juniors, sophomores attend ReCreate Reading meetings

by Nerine Uyanik, Humans of Harker Asst. Videographer and Feature Photographer
August 31, 2017
Harker's NDCA national competition attendees pose for a group photo at Weber State University. In Lincoln-Douglas debate, Srivatsav Pyda (12) advanced to the quarterfinals, while Emmiee Malyugina (12) and Serena Lu (11) advanced to the octafinals in the event.

Upper school debaters finish strong at NDCA National Championships

by Nerine Uyanik, Reporter
April 13, 2017
Four upper school trumpet players, along with Lab Band director Dr. David Hart, perform solos at the front of the stage. Lab Band, along with Jazz Band and groups from the Middle School, performed at the An Evening of Jazz concert on March 17.

What’s new in performing arts: Spring music performances kick off

by Nerine Uyanik and Anya Weaver
March 28, 2017
David Wen (11) hits a backhand. He plays number one singles for the Harker varsity boys tennis team.

Recap of varsity boys tennis Fresno Tournament

by Nerine Uyanik and Sofie Kassaras
March 6, 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
Julie Wheeler runs a marathon in Napa. Wheeler often runs in marathons in various numerous cities across the nation.

Make a Run for It: History teacher Julie Wheeler discusses her love for running

by Nerine Uyanik
February 21, 2017
“One thing that is important to me when I do something is to actually be able to see if it gets results, so I like starting from nothing and then over time seeing the robot get built until the finished product. We actually keep a time-lapse of it, which is something I enjoy watching when it's done,” Karthik Sundaram (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Karthik Sundaram dedicates time in the robotics lab

by Nerine Uyanik, Reporter
January 15, 2017
Katherine Zhu (11) follows through after her hit. Girls golf ended their season with a ninth place finish at the CCS tournament.

Girls golf finishes ninth in CCS tournament

by Nerine Uyanik, Reporter
November 4, 2016
SNHS president Aditi Maheshwari (12) hands a gold coin to Aadi Ghildiyal (11) during bingo. Members of SNHS played bingo and ate cake during Spanish Olympiad.

Spanish National Honor Society holds annual Olympiad

by Meena Gudapati and Nerine Uyanik
October 20, 2016
Joanna Lin (12) works on a problem during a practice round for last year's online math competition Math Madness on Sept. 27. Competitors worked on math problems online in 20 minute sessions.

Math Club members participate in annual online competition

by Tiffany Wong and Nerine Uyanik
October 11, 2016
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