The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila
“Human connection is very important to staying grounded and stable. The people around me are one of the reasons that I'm not fully burnt out, so I really prioritize keeping a good schedule for myself. Being able to prioritize the things in life that give me internal satisfaction is important to me because that's what allows me to have the drive to do good with the rest of my time. Talking to people is a way for me to replenish," senior Kashish Priyam said.
Humans of Harker: Pep in every step
“It's very important to make sure the people in your life know they're important to you. Whether that's doing small acts of kindness or just being there whenever they need you, having a really strong support system is what gets you through life, and it's a really valuable life skill to have," Sofie Marino (12) said.
Humans of Harker: Pillar of support
“My karate teachers emphasize that as black belts, we should be living up to the standard of our rank and acting as an example for the students who are lower-ranked.' When I’m helping out and someone messes up, I don't necessarily say, ‘You did this wrong, try to do this.’ I take a more relaxed approach and act out what they did a little comically. It's finding the balance between being strict and being more playful with the students," senior Claire Perng said.
Humans of Harker: Playing with purpose
“I have the ability to convey my opinions and ideas through art, which in my opinion, is the most powerful tool I have because not everyone has it. It requires me to, first of all, have an opinion or thought, and second of all, be able to convey it with this medium. Together, that is the strongest calling for an artist," senior Eva Li said.
Humans of Harker: Artistry in abstraction
"I like challenging myself to really, really high expectations and then surprisingly, somehow it works, and I think I have the most fun doing that. Rather than making a beginner thing, I wanna be the best .I wanna do the craziest thing first," senior Gabe Li said.
Humans of Harker: B-roll to your beat
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
Nina Gee

Nina Gee, Winged Post Managing Editor

Nina Gee (12) is the co-design editor for the Winged Post. This is her fourth year on the Harker Journalism staff. An aspiring filmmaker and avid storyteller, Nina hopes to continue telling the stories of her peers through impactful writing, out-of-the-box page designs and her newly learned documentary photography skills.
All content by Nina Gee
Elliot Kampmeier (9) crouches down beside a stack of chairs and one of his cats. “My dad’s coworker runs a cat shelter, just out of his house, so we got both of our cats from him. It’s really funny, because he used to play minor league baseball, so he’s this really buff, tall guy, and there’s pictures of him bottle feeding little kittens so it’s really great," he said.

Pets of Harker

by Nina Gee, Reporter
May 14, 2018
Chef Steve mixes vegetables in a bowl after washing them. Though comfort food is often associated with greasy and unhealthy food, Martinez says, “My purpose in naming my company that was just the notion of food being nourishing and comforting.”

So you wanna be a chef?

by Nina Gee and Anna Vazhaeparambil
March 30, 2018
Freshmen Billy Fan and Brian Pinkston block a ball against Mountain View High School. The varsity boys team beat Mountain View in four sets.

Varsity boys volleyball defeats Mountain View in four sets

by Nina Gee, Reporter
March 22, 2018
So you wanna be a poet?

So you wanna be a poet?

by Nina Gee, Reporter
March 8, 2018
Media Matters: Queer representation by the numbers

Media Matters: Queer representation by the numbers

by Nina Gee, Reporter
March 8, 2018
Screen Shot 2018-03-06 at 5.43.37 PM

Oscar nominees hit highs and lows

by Anjay Saklecha, Winged Post Copy Editor
March 8, 2018
San Jose firefighters fight the bush fires behind Nichols Hall. Students and teachers were evacuated to Davis Field after a small fire broke out on I-280.

Small fire on Interstate 280 disrupts afternoon classes

by Vijay Bharadwaj, News Editor
February 6, 2018
The seniors bow at the end of their finale routine. Themed "Viva Las Vegas," this year's show featured approximately 150 dancers in 23 dances.

Annual dance production features upper school students and faculty

by Nicole Chen, Nina Gee, and Arushi Saxena
February 6, 2018

Gold and gray moments at the Golden Globes

by Jenna Sadhu and Arushi Saxena
February 11, 2018
Memoir Monday: Records

Memoir Monday: Records

by Nina Gee, Reporter
January 22, 2018
Responses to things you should never say to a K-pop fan

Responses to things you should never say to a K-pop fan

by Nina Gee and Helen Yang
January 8, 2018
Upper school vocal group Cantilena performs at Big Assembly Day (BAD). All performing groups also visited the lower and middle school campuses for BAD.

Students perform in annual holiday concert

by Nina Gee, Reporter
December 8, 2017
Cassandra Ruedy (10), Charlotte Blanc (10) and Katelyn Chen (10) examine the treats Make a Birthday Wish Club is selling outside Manzanita. “A birthday is a special thing that we all get to celebrate, and we want to make their birthdays as special as possible," club secretary Jenna Sanders (12) said.

Make a Birthday Wish Club holds club week

by Nina Gee, Reporter
December 1, 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
DECA students will travel to Arizona today to participate in a mock conference before the official competition season begins. This event will allow DECA members to participate in roleplays as well as practice written events.

DECA members to attend first conference of the school year

by Kaidi Dai and Nina Gee
November 16, 2017
Academic Dean Evan Barth speaks to sophomores about course planning and the rest of their high school career. Barth reviewed the transcripts of two anonymized students to demonstrate the effect on unbalanced course selection choices on grades and overall well-being.

Freshmen, sophomores, seniors participate in LIFE assemblies

by Zoe Sanders and Jin Tuan
November 7, 2017
Selin Sayiner (12) purchases a Valentine Gram from student council's February fundraiser for the previous school year. Student council plans to hold another fundraiser for hurricane victims in late October.

Student council plans fundraiser for hurricane victims across United States

by Nina Gee, Reporter
October 12, 2017
Ten outrageous pumpkin spice products

Ten outrageous pumpkin spice products

by Nina Gee, Reporter
October 6, 2017
Students crowd onto the dance floor for Cupid's "Cupid Shuffle." The DJ also played DJ Casper's "Cha-Cha Slide" during tonight's dance.

Upper school holds annual Homecoming dance

by Nina Gee and Kaitlin Hsu
September 22, 2017
Memoir Monday: The happiest place on earth

Memoir Monday: The happiest place on earth

by Nina Gee, Reporter
September 18, 2017
Sophomores Vani Mohindra, Sachin Shah, Cynthia Chen, Allison Jia, Jacqueline "Jackie" Yang, Emily Liu and Eileen Li pose with their trophy.

Sophomores succeed at national TEAMS competition in Orlando

by Nina Gee and Helen Yang
September 7, 2017
Students participating in last year's spring musical, "High School Musical," strike a pose on stage. Due to the intensive tap dancing involved in this year's musical, "42nd Street," auditions will be held in September instead of November.

Audition dates, workshop announced for 42nd Street spring musical

by Nina Gee, Reporter
September 6, 2017
Construction of the performing arts center will continue until late January. The official opening is set to be in early March of 2018.

Construction continues: Performing arts center to finish in 2018

by Nina Gee, Reporter
September 6, 2017
Charles Shuttleworth at Monarch Pass, Colorado, on the 39th day of the trip. The ride, lasting a total of 62 days, started in Yorktown, Virginia, and spanned across America, ending in San Francisco.

Meet your teacher: English teacher completes summer charity ride across US, raising $5595 for MS

by Kathy Fang and Nina Gee
September 6, 2017
Tiffany Shou (12) jumps to hit the ball during the volleyball game against Westmont High School. The girls went on to win the game in three sets.

JV and varsity girls’ volleyball teams score victories against Westmont

by Nina Gee, Reporter
September 2, 2017
Can you pass the U.S. Citizenship Test?

Can you pass the U.S. Citizenship Test?

by Nina Gee, Reporter
April 21, 2017
Memoir Monday: There and back again

Memoir Monday: There and back again

by Nina Gee, Reporter
March 6, 2017
The rise of the smart home

The rise of the smart home

by Nina Gee and Nisha Shankar
February 24, 2017
“I hope to be remembered as the guy who was always in a great mood. Never really sad and just enjoying himself. I just want to be remembered as that guy whose aura was very positive and just because of him, the people around him were happy as well," Diego Figueroa (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Diego Figueroa emits positive energy

by Nina Gee, Reporter
January 27, 2017
Students rehearse a routine in the dance room after school. This year's production features over 160 dancers in 24 dances.

Annual dance show fast approaching

by Nina Gee, Reporter
January 25, 2017
The upper school orchestra, lab band and jazz band performed at the concert. The Spring Concert will be in April.

Conservatory finishes winter performances

by Angele Yang and Nina Gee
January 24, 2017
The benefits of being bilingual

The benefits of being bilingual

by Nina Gee, Reporter
December 3, 2016
“In four years, I hope I’m still in college,” he said. “I hope I’ve started to get my life together and maybe get a few gigs here and there, but I'll still definitely be taking weekly lessons. I want to go to graduate school after that, maybe at a conservatory, and then who knows? Just hopefully playing whatever, however that is, whether it’s an orchestra or a salsa band or whatever. As long as I’m playing, it’ll be fine," Jack Farnham (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Jack Farnham pursues career as trumpet player

by Nina Gee, Reporter
November 30, 2016
Paralympic athletes race against one another in the women's T54 1500-meter race. Athletes are eligible in T54 races if they have spinal cord injuries and use only their upper-body muscles in the race.

Viewers push Paralympics to the side after the Olympics

by Neil Bai and Nina Gee
October 11, 2016
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