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Harker Aquila
“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
“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
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
Jackie Gao

Jackie Gao, Reporter

Jackie Gao (10) is in her second year on staff is a reporter of the Winged Post. Her favorite part of journalism is the ability to interact with various kinds of people. In her free time, she likes to draw, listen to music, and study math. She also plays a little bit of table tennis outside of school. Her main hobby is to listen to Korean music and watch Korean dramas.

All content by Jackie Gao
The new school: innovators pioneer experimental schools in the California Bay Area

The new school: innovators pioneer experimental schools in the California Bay Area

by Prameela Kottapalli and Jackie Gao
February 3, 2016
Wearing leggings, Sanjana Marcé (11) walks in the rain along with Trisha Dwivedi (11) and Kshithija Mulam (11). The new dress code was implemented on Nov. 31.

New guidelines for dress code implemented

by Jackie Gao, Reporter
January 7, 2016
Hard-hitting: Concussions and sports-related injuries rise for adolescents in the United States

Hard-hitting: Concussions and sports-related injuries rise for adolescents in the United States

by Jackie Gao and Zachary Hoffman
November 30, 2015
Novel writing month challenges would-be authors

Novel writing month challenges would-be authors

by Jackie Gao and Adrian Chu
November 25, 2015
Senior Ryan Fernandez dashes to his side of the field with a ball in his hand while Brandon Mo (10) chases after him to take off one of his flags. Each class competed against each other during long lunch in a game of capture the flag.

DECA and Spirit Club host capture the flag game during long lunch

by Jackie Gao, Reporter
November 11, 2015
Sandy Hill Property Company will add the world's largest green roof above the future town center for Cupertino. The plan is shown in the featured image.

Green ceiling: World’s largest green roof soon to cover newly renovated Vallco Shopping Center in Cupertino

by Jackie Gao and Kaitlin Hsu
October 18, 2015
English teacher Christopher Hurshman assists sophomore Kathleen with her essay revisions. Gradebook reports come out on Wednesday afternoon.

Gradebook reports available on Wednesday

by Jackie Gao, Reporter
October 12, 2015
Sandip Nirmel (11) lights a candle as an initiation for NHS. The NHS officers and faculty held a ceremony yesterday to welcome the 30 new members to the organization.

National Honor Society welcomes new members in Induction Ceremony

by Jackie Gao and Neil Bai
October 7, 2015
"We are using air conditioner more often. I cannot let my cat go out. I am also having a hard time sleeping." - Yumiko Aridomi

Talk Around Campus: How has the September heat wave affected your lifestyle?

by Jackie Gao, Reporter
September 23, 2015
Students avoid the sun while eating lunch and studying by sitting in the shady area of the table. San Jose is experiencing a heat wave that will last throughout the week.

San Jose heat wave raises health concerns

by Jackie Gao and Rose Guan
September 9, 2015
Artificial intelligence has advanced since its beginnings two decades ago. Some examples of artificial intelligence include driverless cars and robots.

The future of artificial intelligence

by Jackie Gao and Rose Guan
September 8, 2015
The company has been helping suppress wildfires due to the lack of national resources and abundance of fires. Over 5,500 wildfires have ravaged 180,000 acres of land since the beginning of the year.

Drought spawns wildfires

by Trisha Dwivedi and Jackie Gao
September 1, 2015
California has been in a state of drought since 2012. This dry riverbed is one of thousands of examples of the impact the drought has had on the environment.

California state government sets up new water regulations

by Jackie Gao, Reporter
May 21, 2015
Priscilla Pan (12) reenacted senior Vivek Sriram’s Hoscars dance of T-ARA’s “Roly Poly” to ask him to prom in the Quad. Priscilla asked the original performers, dubbed the Roly Poly Dream Team, to dance with her.

#harkerpromposal highlight reel

by Priscilla Pan and Jackie Gao
May 16, 2015
3) The seniors stand together to take a group photo on their last game. Boy's baseball held their senior night on Thursday, May 7.

Boys’ baseball loses 4-10 to Jefferson High School on senior night

by Jackie Gao and Adrian Chu
May 10, 2015
​Customers can examine and play with the Apple Watch in Apple stores. Apple Watches start appearing around campus as students and faculty purchase the device after the release date.

Students and faculty wear Apple Watches around campus

by Jackie Gao
May 6, 2015
Agata Sorotkin (12) and Maya Nandakumar (12) smile as they pore over a book. Agata and Maya were both Mitra Scholars.

Near and Mitra Grant scholars release papers

by Tara Parimi, Aquila Copy Editor and Reporter
May 1, 2015
This graphic shows the amount of students signed up for various courses for summer.

Students polish their skills in preparation for the upcoming school year

by Adrian Chu and Jackie Gao
April 29, 2015
Apple debuts iWatch after pre-release earlier this month

Apple debuts iWatch after pre-release earlier this month

by Meena Gudapati and Jackie Gao
April 29, 2015
The debate team will hold a speech showcase where students will be speaking at with pieces they worked on the past year on Wednesday during long lunch.

School meeting recap 2/2

by Jackie Gao, Reporter
February 3, 2015

Students party at Bond-themed Ball

by Jackie Gao and Kaitlin Hsu
January 28, 2015
Epic Bay Area storm, largest since 2009, reaches the Upper School campus.

Strategies to avoid the rain

by Emma Yu and Jackie Gao
December 12, 2014
Kailee Gifford (10) dribbles the ball closer to the goal. The varsity girls soccer team tied 2-2 with Lynbrook High School today.

Girls varsity soccer ties first game of the season

by Jackie Gao, Reporter
December 3, 2014
WiSTEM Diabetes Awareness Week

WiSTEM Diabetes Awareness Week

by Kavya Ramakrishnan, Aditya Varshney, and Jackie Gao
November 30, 2014
American Diabetes Month takes place each November. WiSTEM hosted Diabetes Awareness Week last week to raise awareness.

WiSTEM hosts Diabetes Awareness Week

by Kavya Ramakrishnan, Aditya Varshney, and Jackie Gao
November 24, 2014

“Ad Amore” concert sheds light on love

by Sanjana Avula and Jackie Gao
November 23, 2014
Morgan Douglas (9), Kaitlin Hsu (9), Serena Lu (9) and Julia Huang (9) showcase their rolled-up pant legs. Students have rolled up their pant legs to celebrate Darren's new fashion trend, OPLUT.

One Pant Leg Up Thursdays

by Jackie Gao, Reporter
November 2, 2014
Cases of Enterovirus D-68, a respiratory disease that targets children with asthma, have been reported in 42 states, including 14 cases in California.

Enterovirus spreads across country

by Trisha Dwivedi and Jackie Gao
October 17, 2014
Elizabeth Schick (9) prepares to serve for the start of the match. She won 6-2 the first set and 6-1 in the second.

Varsity girls tennis loses to Milpitas High School

by Jackie Gao
September 23, 2014
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