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
Jenna Sadhu

Jenna Sadhu, Reporter

Jenna Sadhu (10) is a Social Media Reporter for the Winged Post and has been a part of the Harker community since Kindergarten. She plays on lacrosse, soccer, basketball, volleyball, and softball teams and also enjoys listening to music, cooking, and hanging out with friends.

All content by Jenna Sadhu
Gold and gray moments at the Golden Globes

Gold and gray moments at the Golden Globes

by Jenna Sadhu and Arushi Saxena
February 11, 2018
“At first I’m really introverted,” Katherine Zhu (12) said. “When you get to know me, I’m super talkative. You’re going to wish I stopped talking."

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

by Jenna Sadhu, Broadcast and Multimedia Editor
February 7, 2018
Get Skool'd with Jenna and Meena: Season 2 Episode 1

Get Skool’d with Jenna and Meena: Season 2 Episode 1

by Meena Gudapati and Jenna Sadhu
January 29, 2018
Get Skool'd with Jenna and Meena: Episode 5

Get Skool’d with Jenna and Meena: Episode 5

by Meena Gudapati and Jenna Sadhu
November 10, 2017
“Life is just a super big combination of bad and good things,” Abha Patkar (12) said. “When I look back on all the things in my life, I freaked out over so much, and there was no point, because it all just… passed. Just recognizing that nothing is permanent is something that’s helped me.”

Humans of Harker: Abha Patkar prioritizes her friendships

by Jenna Sadhu, Aquila Broadcast & Multimedia Editor
November 2, 2017
Spooky Halloween stories

Spooky Halloween stories

by Meena Gudapati, Varsha Rammohan, Michael Eng, Aditya Singhvi, Anjay Saklecha, Vijay Bharadwaj, Zoe Sanders, Arushi Saxena, Jenna Sadhu, and Sahana Srinivasan
October 31, 2017
Get Skool'd with Jenna and Meena: Episode 3

Get Skool’d with Jenna and Meena: Episode 3

by Meena Gudapati and Jenna Sadhu
October 15, 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
Mahika Halepete and Jenna Sadhu

Are there enough seats at lunch?

by Jenna Sadhu and Arushi Saxena
October 12, 2017
Get Skool'd with Jenna and Meena: Episode 2

Get Skool’d with Jenna and Meena: Episode 2

by Meena Gudapati and Jenna Sadhu
September 14, 2017
First day of school traditions

First day of school traditions

by Jenna Sadhu, Aquila Broadcast Editor
September 6, 2017
Get Skool'd with Jenna and Meena: Episode 1

Get Skool’d with Jenna and Meena: Episode 1

by Meena Gudapati and Jenna Sadhu
June 1, 2017
Andrew Semenza (11) reads Harker Horizon outside Manzanita during lunch. This issue of the journal, containing student articles and projects, was released on May 8.

Front page update (Issue 7)

by Anvi Banga, Kshithija Mulam, and Jenna Sadhu
May 11, 2017
Ensemble cast members signal the start of the musical with none other than "Start of Something New."

Hearts in the song

by Nicole Chen and Jenna Sadhu
May 11, 2017
“It’s very cheesy, but I love the quote ‘live, laugh, love’ because it’s very in the moment. I love to laugh because it makes me feel better and I love to make other people laugh. I definitely think things should be positive and spirited rather than negative and stressful. I try to surround myself with people that have the same positive outlook as me, who make me laugh and make sure that when I’m down, I still have the same spirit and positive emotions that I want to bring to other people,” Nina Levy (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Nina Levy gives back to her community

by Jenna Sadhu, Reporter
April 22, 2017
Journalism students attend national convention in Seattle

Journalism students attend national convention in Seattle

by Jenna Sadhu, Cameron Zell, Heidi Zhang, and Tiffany Wong
April 13, 2017
Calafia Cafe: Friendly Farm to Table

Calafia Cafe: Friendly Farm to Table

by Jenna Sadhu, Reporter
March 14, 2017
Selin Sayiner (11) types her name, recipient's name and the type of gram that she wishes to purchase on an online order form outside of Manzanita during long lunch. A Google form was sent out to all students on Jan. 23 to expedite the process of buying Valentine's Grams and was available until Feb. 3.

Valentine’s Grams brought back: Students buy flowers and chocolates to send to peers

by Jenna Sadhu, Reporter
February 21, 2017
“Anne of Green Gables. I loved her for multiple reasons. She loved dramatic poetry. She had a really vivid imagination, and she was really feisty, and I just loved the way she interacted with the world and the way she kind of throws herself into everything. I really not only took inspiration from how she did things but how she viewed the world. She also has red hair which I love," Marjorie Hazeltine said.

Who is your childhood hero?

by Rashmi Iyer and Jenna Sadhu
January 24, 2017
Varsity dance poses at the end of their routine. Varsity dance, JV dance, Kinetic Krew and Downbeat were among some of the groups that performed at the Santana Row Tree Lighting ceremony last year.

Performing arts groups light up Santana Row

by Adrian Chu and Jenna Sadhu
November 17, 2016
“I don’t really get nervous before performances. I always get really excited. I love the exhilaration and the rush of being backstage and walking on the main stage and waiting for the music to start. We just hit it and have that adrenaline rush and then coming off after feeling like the performance was only three seconds," Noor Singh (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Noor Singh loves travel and dance

by Jenna Sadhu, Reporter
October 17, 2016
Students spoke to representatives from organizations that provide service opportunities for high school students. The Service Fair took place on Sept. 29 in Nichols.

National Honor Society holds service fair

by Vijay Bharadwaj and Jenna Sadhu
October 16, 2016
Sana Aladin (12) performs in last year's SDS. Sana is one of this year's directors who announced their shows during the school meeting.

Performing arts kick off in fall and winter

by Jenna Sadhu and Rashmi Iyer
October 13, 2016
The chance of a mass shooting taking place at one's school is one in five million. Both parents and teachers are concerned with spending too much time, money, and effort into drills for an event that might not even happen.

Shootings prompt increase in gun violence

by Jenna Sadhu, Reporter
September 1, 2016
Tiffany Shou (11) prepares to hit the ball. The girls' volleyball team lost to Homestead High School 2-3.

Varsity girls volleyball loses against Homestead High School in season-opener

by Jenna Sadhu, Reporter
August 27, 2016
Alisa Su (10) poses in a selfie with the new Harker Geotags that were released last month.

Snapchat Geofilters introduced to campus

by Jenna Sadhu, Reporter
May 5, 2016
Juniors Chelsie Alexander and Mataan Peer show off their outfits on Wacky Wednesday. Spirit week was held from Monday to Friday this week.

Spirit Week 2016: The tradition continues

by Jenna Sadhu, Reporter
April 22, 2016
The price of a perfect prom: Is it worth it?

The price of a perfect prom: Is it worth it?

by Jenna Sadhu, Social Media Editor
April 14, 2016
Junior Aditi Maheshwari prepares to catch the ball during a match.

Girls lacrosse kicks off season

by Jenna Sadhu, Reporter
March 27, 2016
Haris Hosseini (9) and Vanessa Tyagi (10) pose for a picture with manicured eyebrows. Across social media, #OnFleek is a hashtag used commonly to describe eyebrows.

Eyebrows #OnFleek

by Jenna Sadhu, Social Media Reporter
March 1, 2016
The Weeknd performs at the Bumbershoot 2015 music festival. The Weeknd won two Grammy awards this year.

58th annual Grammy award show aired Monday night

by Jenna Sadhu, Reporter
February 19, 2016
Upcoming bell schedule adjustment unnecessary

Upcoming bell schedule adjustment unnecessary

by Jenna Sadhu, Aquila contributor
November 29, 2015
Is it Ugg season yet?

Is it Ugg season yet?

by Jenna Sadhu and Melina Nakos
November 28, 2015
Rishabh Chandra (12), Naomi Molin (12) and Marina Newman (11) portray a scene where a reporter from the Tectonic Theater company interviews Laramie inhabitants. "The Laramie Project" will be performed this evening at 7 p.m.

Fall play premieres tonight

by Jenna Sadhu, Reporter
October 29, 2015
James Gatenby, a web developer at LinkedIn helps students professionalize their profiles. The workshop was held yesterday during long lunch in the Innovation Center

Career Connect holds workshop during long lunch

by Jenna Sadhu, Reporter
October 8, 2015
Eighth graders and returning staff members participate in bonding games to get to know each other.

Eighth graders visit the journalism program

by Jenna Sadhu, Reporter
May 21, 2015
A few fish remain swimming around in the Nichols fish tank. The science department hopes to find a solution soon, and potentially bring new fish in the tank.

Jay Paranjpe (10) wears green every single day to school. He doesn't wear green on St. Patrick's Day.

Did you know: Jay Paranjpe, the boy who wears all green

by Jenna Sadhu, Reporter
March 22, 2015
Every tub of cookie dough contains 100% natural ingredients with no preservatives for the best taste.

The Cookie Dough Cafe

by Jenna Sadhu, Reporter
February 28, 2015
Talking about the different parts of the teenage brain, Main teaches the freshman that some teenagers make bad decisions, because their brains are not fully developed yet.

Freshman learn about digital citizenship and online safety

by Jenna Sadhu, Reporter
January 31, 2015
HABLAS ESPANOL: Spanish teacher and Foreign Language Department Chair Abel Olivas teaches an AP Spanish class. Next year, the Upper School will be offering an Honors Spanish 4 class to bridge the gap between Spanish 4 and the AP course, as well as a new English elective and several classes on the Global Online Academy.

New courses being offered next year

by Vineet Kosaraju and Jenna Sadhu
January 28, 2015
If you're still in need of a dress with Winter Ball less than three days away, look no further. Read this article to help you find the perfect dress.

Last-minute Winter Ball ideas

by Jenna Sadhu, Reporter
January 15, 2015
FOCUSING ON CHANGE: Students and faculty gather at the Oct. 20 focus group meeting to discuss dress code alterations. They decided to change restrictions on boys shirts and girls skirt lengths.

Next year’s dress code altered

by Apoorva Rangan, Meena Gudapati, and Jenna Sadhu
December 1, 2014
Children's school in Chennai, India overlooks the rest of the neighborhood. There, the children consider themselves fortunate to be sheltered in a cramped single-room working space, with a patch of dead grass as their playground.

Enchanting Chennai

by Jenna Sadhu, Reporter
October 2, 2014
The Maze Runner cover shows Thomas, portrayed by Dylan O’Brien sprints from the maze being chased by other people who are trapped on the enclosed environment. The energy-packed movie broke box office predictions with a domestic total just under $37 million.

Maze Runner Review – 5/5 Stars

by Jenna Sadhu, Reporter
September 25, 2014
Load More Stories