The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila
“When I was fresh in my frosh year, I wanted to lead the team in goals. I wanted to leave behind that legacy, but now the goal is to leave behind a well-fit team, my playing strategies and also my leadership strategies," Claire Anderson ('25) said.
Humans of Harker: Marching forward
Humans of Harker: Designing a difference
Humans of Harker: Designing a difference
Humans of Harker: Reaching new heights
Humans of Harker: Reaching new heights
“What motivates me in life and also gives me joy in life is the things that I enjoy. Putting in the extra effort is always worth it. Nobody’s going to call you a failure if you do things to the bare minimum, but doing things half-heartedly is the most depressing thing ever to me. Putting in double the effort makes things so much better for others, and that makes me happy,” Kaitlyn Su (’25) said.
Humans of Harker: Passion in precision
“I learned to be persistent and not take no for an answer, and I realized that change applied to whatever I do in life. Having that mission-driven spirit and being able to help empower other people to make the world a better place is a goal and value that I want to carry with me in everything I do," Naiya Daswani said.
Humans of Harker: Shlurping up success
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
Tiffany Zhu

Tiffany Zhu, Sports Editor

Tiffany Zhu (11) is a Sports editor for Harker Aquila and the Winged Post, and this is her third year on staff. This year, she looks forward to bonding with the journalism team and reporting on exciting stories. In her free time, she enjoys baking and watching all genres of movies.

All content by Tiffany Zhu
“If you have an opportunity, always go out and take it. Early on in high school, I didn't do much outside of the classroom. I had very few extracurriculars. Most of the time I hung out with my friends, played basketball and video games. Over time, by exploring new things, I've been exposed to a whole variety of things that I'm interested in, and because of that, I know what I want to pursue in the future," Gary Jin ('25) said.

Humans of Harker: Reaching new heights

by Leah Krupnik, Features Editor
June 2, 2025
The UEFA Champions League pits top clubs from across Europe against each other in an annual tournament. This year, Inter Milan faces off Paris Saint-Germain in the final on Saturday.

UEFA Champions League matches set stage for thrilling conclusion

by Sam Li, Features Editor
May 26, 2025
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Through our lens: Harker 2024-25

by Ram Batchu, Aryana Bharali, Eva Cheng, Victor Gong, Suhani Gupta, Minal Jalil, Sam Li, Isabella Lo, Mendy Mao, Katerina Matta, Ashley Mo, Emma Milner, Young Min, Sarah Mohammed, Lily Peng, Caden Ruan, Lily Shi, Kairui Sun, Jonathan Szeto, Claire Tian, Heather Wang, Charlie Wang, Alison Yang, Chelsea Xie, Cynthia Xie, Connie Xu, Jonathan Xue, Claire Yu, Brandon Zau, and Tiffany Zhu
May 25, 2025
“The most rewarding thing about geography is learning about other cultures, learning about the architecture of other countries and being introduced to how other people live. There are a lot of things to learn about because the world's really unique, and there are lots of things you can observe," senior Eric Li said.

Humans of Harker: Coding for culture

by Aahana Sharma, Reporter
May 21, 2025
Anna Luo launched her jewelry brand Analemma8 to merge spirituality and beauty. "The goal of our brand is that when people wear our accessories, they not only look good, but they are also given confidence and spiritual inspiration," Luo said.

So you wanna be a jewelry business owner?

by Tiffany Zhu, Winged Post Editor-in-Chief
May 21, 2025
"Singing is not really something that I can think about technique wise, because it comes down naturally. It really depends on emotion and how you express it. Bringing a lot of emotion and confidence into what I do is what helps me the most. Conquering fears or giving my best is what’s important to me," senior Henry Shang said.

Humans of Harker: From singing to swinging

by Ashley Zhou, Reporter
May 21, 2025
“I want to do everything I can to make people's lives easier. Whether it's helping people with homework or just doing other little things, that's something that I really value highly within myself. I’ve tried to do my best to carry that out with beekeeping: checking out what in my hive needs tending to and then responding to that," senior Andrew Liang said.

Humans of Harker: Bee my guest

by Aubrie Su, Reporter
May 18, 2025
Sophomore Vova Schegrov bats the ball back down onto the net. "For this sport, you don’t need to be as athletic as others, and you can play it anywhere," Vova said. "There’s no excuse to not play.”

Serving up spikes on Davis Field

by Victor Gong and Sam Li
May 12, 2025
Sophomores Hannah Jiang and Joyce Zhang present their business idea “Project H.O.M.E.” Contestants pitched business plans and marketing campaigns to judges on the first day of the competition.

Students compete in international DECA conference, gain accolades

by Tiffany Zhu and Chelsea Xie
May 6, 2025
Junior Brady Tse speaks during the class council candidates' panel session in the Rothschild Performing Arts Center. Juniors voted Brady, Janam Chahal and Claire Yu as their SAB representatives for the 2025-26 school year.

Students elect 2025-26 class council representatives

by Tiffany Zhu, Winged Post Editor-in-Chief
April 30, 2025
Founder of Teja Gummies Sriteja Kataru (12) hands out samples at his booth. Students engaged by spinning a challenge wheel featuring trivia and physical tasks to win prizes.

Student entrepreneurs “Make Waves” at BEcon and Startup World Cup

by Cynthia Xie, A&E/Lifestyle Editor
April 28, 2025
An Honest Biscuits employee builds a sandwich. For those exploring Pike Place Market and seeking a satisfying meal with a touch of homemade comfort, Honest Biscuits delivers.

Tasty Tidbits: Honest Biscuits offers vibrant flavors, buttery warmth

by Tiffany Zhu and Ashley Mo
April 26, 2025
Director of testing for Harker DECA Abby Rose Sachse (10) flexes her arm while wearing her DECA suit. For women's history month, Harker Aquila would like to honor the contributions of women like Abby who continue to break barriers in male-dominated industries.

Honoring Women’s History Month

by Mendy Mao, Disha Gupta, Lily Shi, Ashley Mo, and Tiffany Zhu
March 30, 2025
When parental involvement crosses from encouragement to overcontrolling, the athlete’s love for their sport often shifts to showing signs of dread. “During the start of the season, I liked it, but over time, he really increased expectations on me, and it definitely hurt my enjoyment of the game," an anonymous basketball player said.

Parental pressure dampens sports passions

by Tiffany Zhu, Wenjie Zou, and Claire Xu
March 28, 2025
Junior Sophia Ou competes in the long jump event at the Saint Francis Invitational. She set a season record of 4.63 meters.

Tracking strengths, fielding talents

by Tiffany Zhu and Sam Li
March 28, 2025
Freshman Marlo Sanchez-Taporco winds up for a shot put throw during practice. While most people associate the more popular running events with track and field, field events such as discus, shot put and long jump provide athletes with other forms of competition.

Varsity baseball player Shaurya Jain (10) winds up for a pitch. “When you’re pitching, you’re the person with the ball who initiates the whole game," Shaurya said. "You get to control the tempo, and I found that really appealing.”

APEX: All-around ace

by Tiffany Zhu and Lily Peng
March 27, 2025
Junior varsity boys soccer player Luca Barchietto (10) competes in a pickup league on the weekends. Pickup sports allow athletes to experiment with new techniques that they would otherwise not be able to implement in more high stakes environments.

No pressure, all play

by Sam Li and Chelsea Xie
March 26, 2025
It doesn’t feel real that it’s over even now. I’m ready to head off to practice after school, to go grab bagels for the team.

Senior Navya Samuel strikes the ending pose in the seniors’ dance to “Badtameez Dil.” Bollywood night performances included dance, singing and instrumental covers.

Bollywood night unites community for performances and festivity

by Chelsea Xie, Assistant News Editor
March 21, 2025
Frosh Rachel Li, Debby Zhu and Regina Zhang write code on their laptopsduring the contest. Their team competed in the advanced division.

Programming Club hosts record 203 participants in Harker Programming Invitational

by Tiffany Zhu and Claire Tian
March 14, 2025
Executive order "Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports" allows agencies to require federally funded institutions to define athletes’ genders by their birth-assigned sex. The order threatens to impact high school and college athletes, and states decide whether to follow the president’s directions.

Transgender athlete ban sparks fairness and inclusivity debates

by Tiffany Zhu and Claire Xu
March 11, 2025
To the disappointment of Mavericks fans, the Doncic trade will probably resonate in league history as a generational screw-up by the front office. The deal hinges on a false reality that Doncic’s health is a bigger risk than Davis’ — one that would continually deny Dallas a championship.

Game Talk with Gabe: Downfall of a franchise

by Gabe Sachse, Aquila Managing Editor
March 8, 2025

Reactions to the 2025 Oscars

by Tiffany Zhu and Gabe Sachse
March 6, 2025
Whether through theater, technical production, teaching or cooking, Larsen remains committed to storytelling and actively engaging curious minds. "By staying very connected to and focused on the kids that are coming through the program, it continues to be exciting because different people bring different skill sets," Larsen said.

Meet your staff: Bringing stories to life

by Tiffany Zhu and Minal Jalil
March 4, 2025
Midfielder Cyrus Ghane (11) wards off two Pinewood defenders while looking for a pass. Cyrus put Pinewood on the defensive all game as the Eagles triumphed 2-1 on senior night.

Forward Vova Shchegrov (10) dribbles the ball down the sideline past Pinewood defenders during their game on Feb. 12. Vova scored the final goal of the game, securing Harker’s win.

2025 recap: Winter sports highlights

March 3, 2025
The varsity boys soccer team celebrates defender Jonathan Wang (12) on senior night. The boys team finished the season with 9-8-1 record while going 7-7 in league games.

Varsity girls soccer draws Notre Dame San Jose 0-0 on senior night

Varsity girls soccer draws Notre Dame San Jose 0-0 on senior night

by Eva Cheng and Tiffany Zhu
February 18, 2025
Varsity boys basketball players Lucas Huang (9) and Nolan Chen (12) take a photo together. “All my teammates around me, the energy that they had and the crowd had in the game was great,” Nolan said.

Varsity boys basketball clinches 82-67 senior night win over Crystal Springs Uplands

by Tiffany Zhu and Eva Cheng
February 16, 2025
A poster for Vyom is posted on the Zhang Gymnasium wall. Friends and family made personalized gifts for the seniors.

Junior and senior audience members cheer on the Eagles. Students, faculty and parents supported the team from the bleachers.

Power forward Rohit Yalla (12) jumps to win the tipoff for the Eagles. Rohit has played basketball at Harker for the past nine years.

Small forward Haden Andrews (12) poses for a photo with his parents. As each senior took their photo, head coach Alfredo Alves shared highlights about their time playing basketball at Harker.

Seniors Ian Gerstner, Steven Jiang and Nikhil Pesati boast posters during the ceremony. Although Senior Daniel Chen was unable to attend, Ian and Steven carried his posters for him.

Varsity boys soccer conquers Pinewood 2-1 on senior night

by Eva Cheng and Tiffany Zhu
February 15, 2025
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Midfielder Alec holds his poster while smiling for a photo with his family. “Senior night was really memorable with everyone coming together—the JV players, the varsity players and our friends,” Alec said.

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Groove to GRAMMYs’ greatest with Aquila

Groove to GRAMMYs’ greatest with Aquila

by Tiffany Zhu, Sports Editor
February 10, 2025
From sports courts to controversy

From sports courts to controversy

by Tiffany Zhu and Lily Shi
February 5, 2025
Varsity girls soccer player Audrey Yang (11) looks out into the bleachers while sitting on Davis Field. After close losses, athletes often feel the sting of their supposed failure, but reset routines help mitigate pressure.(Illustration by Elizabeth Zhang, Photo by Tiffany Zhu)

Overcoming performance pressure

by Eva Cheng, Sports Editor
February 6, 2025
Varsity girls basketball captains Isabella Lo (12) and Emily Mitnick (12) exchange stories with their teammates during lunch. The captain organize frequent team lunches to facilitate team bonding during the season.

Talk Around Campus: Students and staff share Super Bowl predictions

Talk Around Campus: Students and staff share Super Bowl predictions

by Tiffany Zhu, Sports Editor
January 26, 2025
Ohio State University and Notre Dame face off in National Championship on Monday. A nationwide spectacle, the National Championship caps off four months of intense and deeply entrenched rivalries and brings families and communities together.

Ohio State and Notre Dame face off in National Championship

January 20, 2025
Eric Liu ('06) looks ahead in the driver seat of his Porsche Cayman race car. Liu attended his first track day after a fellow automobile enthusiast invited him.

Fueling dreams full throttle

by Tiffany Zhu, Sports Editor
January 18, 2025
Central midfielder Alexander Maxim (9) races to steal the ball from a Priory player. The Eagles defeated the Panthers 4-3 on Friday.

Junior varsity boys soccer defeats Priory 4-3

by Tiffany Zhu, Lily Shi, and Sam Li
January 14, 2025
18-year-old Gukesh Dommaraju became the youngest ever world chess champion upon winning the 2024 FIDE World Chess Championship. Many analysts favored Gukesh, who had entered the tournament off prior victories, to win the match against reigning champion Ding Liren.

Gukesh Dommaraju ekes out victory in historic World Chess Championship

December 31, 2024
18-year-old Gukesh Dommaraju became the youngest ever world chess champion upon winning the 2024 FIDE World Chess Championship. Many analysts favored Gukesh, who had entered the tournament off prior victories, to win the match against reigning champion Ding Liren.

Gukesh Dommaraju ekes out victory in historic World Chess Championship

by Mihir Kotbagi, Opinions Editor
December 31, 2024
Senior Varun Thvar plays the cello in the orchestra's opening performance of "Sleigh Ride." The song featured instrumental teacher Jaco Wong dressed as the Grinch and a ringing slapstick.

Annual holiday Big Assembly Day showcases performing arts student talent

by Tiffany Zhu and Lily Peng
December 19, 2024
Predictions for the 67th Grammys

Predictions for the 67th Grammys

by Ashley Mo, Suhani Gupta, and Tiffany Zhu
December 17, 2024
As the year comes to an end, many may feel nostalgia. Harker Aquila editors reflected on the bittersweet feeling of traditions and memories fading into the past in these winter themed tiny love stories.

Tiny love stories: End of year nostalgia

by Suhani Gupta, Disha Gupta, Lily Shi, and Tiffany Zhu
December 16, 2024
“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

by Tiffany Zhu, Co-Sports Editor
December 4, 2024
Running back Pedro Castro III clings to the football as Cougar defenders drag him down during the season opener match. The Eagles went 5-3 in the Pacific Coast Athletic League.

2024 recap: Fall sports highlights

by Eva Cheng and Tiffany Zhu
November 23, 2024
With experience in both high school and collegiate athletics, Christa Gannon shared her tips on navigating school and sports. She emphasized the importance of asking for help and being vulnerable in order to succeed.

Christa Gannon cultivates academic-athletic balance at Women in Sports Club speaker event

by Eva Cheng and Tiffany Zhu
November 22, 2024
Christy works on her math homework before her cheer practice. In addition to figure skating, Christy is also part of the varsity cheer team, performing at football and basketball games.

Mastering the balancing act

by Eva Cheng and Tiffany Zhu
November 22, 2024
Driver Oskar Baumgarte (12) fights to maintain possession of the ball during the Open Division CCS semifinal match against Saint Francis. “We knew it would be a hard game from the start, but overall, as a team, we were just happy to be playing," Oskar said.

Varsity boys water polo falters against Saint Francis 11-13 in historic CCS semifinal match

by Tiffany Zhu and Sam Li
November 20, 2024
Justin laughs with frosh Micheal Chinkov as they walk to class. Even amidst his packed schedule, Justin finds time to connect with his friends, striving for social, academic and athletic stability.

Justin swings his iron as he perfects his drive. Frequently leaving school early for golf practice, Justin spends over three hours each day training and traveling to matches.

After the Broncos dumped Wilson for cap purposes to the Pittsburgh Steelers at the beginning of this year, a career resurgence seemed unlikely for the aging quarterback. Now, he leads a team that is 7-2 and at the top of the AFC North.

Game Talk with Gabe: Russ-surgence

November 21, 2024
Former CNN foreign correspondent Atia Abawi speaks to a Newspaper journalism class on Nov. 7. "Sometimes people call you naive as a journalist because you want to make a difference," Abawi said.

Award-winning journalist Atia Abawi speaks to journalism class

by Victoria Li and Heather Wang
November 16, 2024
Running back Jackson Powell (11) sprints with the football as offensive lineman Henry Fradin (11) defends a Warriors player. The varsity football team demolished Trinity Christian 58-0 on senior night.

Varsity football decimates Trinity Christian 58-0 on senior night

by Tiffany Zhu, Sidak Sanghari, and Jeremy Peng
November 11, 2024
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