The student news site of The Harker School.

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

Julia Huang, TALON Organizations Editor

Julia Huang is a junior and Co-Organizations Editor for TALON Yearbook. This is Julia’s third year on staff. In her free time, Julia enjoys watching shows and listening to music.

All content by Julia Huang
Neha Premkumar (11) holds her purchase of Pinkberry from Interact. Members of the organization sold Pinkberry and Pizookies during their club week to fundraise for education for girls in Burkina Faso.

Interact sells Pinkberry and Pizookies during club week

by Julia Huang, TALON Academics Editor
March 30, 2018
Lupita Nyong’o presents the 2018 Oscars. She and Kumail Nanjiana made political statements by introducing themselves as immigrants and speaking about their dreams to reach Hollywood.

Best moments at the 2018 Oscars

by Julia Huang, TALON Academics Editor
March 8, 2018
Future Problem Solvers club officers Anvi Banga (10) and Anika Tiwari (10) organize mini bundt cake sales outside Manzanita. Future club events include the state competition from April 20 to 22 at Design 39 in San Diego.

Future Problem Solvers holds club week

by Julia Huang and Devanshi Mehta
March 2, 2018
"The realistic ones would be a lot of the noncontroversial basics (ie. universal background checks to solve for the gunshow holes and whatnot and as well as more comprehensive background checks), so they would check more different categories. For example, maybe expanding a category to account for people who have been reported to the police as people who seem to be at risk to commit a mass shooting as was done with the Florida shooter because that policy has 97 percent support among the American public, and Donald Trump has expressed support for it, so I think that is realistically possible. There’s a lot of policies that are like this that are noncontroversial and would make a difference, but they don’t really solve the root of the problem, which is the guns themselves. No matter what we do, there are still people who will fall through the cracks that will pass background checks and still commit mass shootings. I’m thinking of the Las Vegas shooter who would pass every single background check. I also think we need to ban assault weapons entirely because we have done that in the past, and statistics show that there was a pretty significant decrease in the amount of deaths that were caused by shootings that immediately shot back up once the ban expired." -Serena Lu (12)

Talk Around Campus: Given the recent Florida shooting, what do you think needs to be done about gun control?

by Julia Huang, TALON Academics Editor
March 2, 2018
“I'm someone who really tends to think about the past and dream about the future, and so this year I've really tried to live more in the moment because I'm surrounded by all these people and things that make me so happy," Sharon Yan (12) said. "Something I've been trying to do is just to stop thinking so much about the past and the future and all the what ifs and just live in the moment.”

Humans of Harker: Sharon Yan spends senior year behind the wheel

by Julia Huang, TALON Academics Editor
January 25, 2018
“Life should have variation,” Karena Kong (12) said. "It's boring to live every day, day to day on the same schedule. You should always do what you really want, live by your interests and have fun instead of living by this rigid standard. There's times when you're experimenting, and it's okay to be spontaneous and make a mess. You never know what might turn out.”

Humans of Harker: Karena Kong values variety

by Julia Huang, TALON Academics Editor
October 27, 2017
Members of Harker's JCL delegation cheer during the State Convention's opening ceremonies. Eighteen upper school students and two middle school students attended the event.

JCL members attend annual state convention

by Julia Huang, TALON Co-Organizations Editor
April 24, 2017
DJ Myty Myke plays music during Winter Ball. Students from all grades attended the annual dance in the Nichols Atrium on Saturday night.

Winter Ball themed New York, New York took place Saturday

by Julia Huang, TALON Co-Organizations Editor
January 22, 2017
“Languages aren’t just this foreign concept; they’re another way of talking to people. I like the idea of the unknown, and I want to make it so that that unknown culture is known to me. I’m attracted to that mystery. I want to find it; I want to uncover it. If there was no unknown, I think I would just be bored. It excites me, and I want to discover what’s behind it," Megan Swanson (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Megan Swanson pursues multiple languages

by Julia Huang, Organizations Editor
January 20, 2017
“[Living in Shanghai] is freedom. It just gives me a feeling that I have all the power, all the choices. It doesn’t really matter what I really do, but it’s this mindset—I am free; I am not restricted by transportation—I really enjoy. [I feel] desire, nostalgia. Wherever I am, I have this tendency of going to Shanghai because it’s my home," Matthew Hu (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Matthew Hu reminisces about Shanghai

by Julia Huang, TALON Organizations Editor
December 4, 2016
"I found part of who I am through my injury definitely because rarely do you have time to just sit and reflect. You’re always just pushing to get ahead and catch up...I found more so what I value. Before, I had been pushing and pushing and pushing, but I didn’t know where I wanted to go. After that, I was trying to find what am I striving for."

Humans of Harker: Jordan Goheen bonds with his father through bikram

by Julia Huang, TALON Organizations Editor
October 24, 2016
Kailee Gifford (12) kicks the ball during an away game at Prospect HS. The eagles lost the game.

Senior Kailee Gifford becomes new kicker for the football team

by Julia Huang, TALON Co-Organizations Editor
September 28, 2016

Gods of Egypt disappoints with lack of diversity and clichéd plot — 2/5 stars

by Julia Huang, TALON Asst. Copy Editor
March 11, 2016
The UC universities plan on admitting 5,000 more undergraduate students from California this year. Over the next three years 10,000 more undergraduate residents plan to be admitted.

Number of UC applications increase for 12th consecutive year

by Julia Huang, TALON Asst. Copy Editor
January 21, 2016
Teacher Matthew Harley prepares to shoot the basketball into the hoop during the freshmen versus faculty quarter. The faculty won 22-8.

DECA organizes Hoops and Scoops to fundraise for MDA

by Julia Huang, TALON Asst. Copy Editor
November 18, 2015
Arun Shriram (12) performs on stage. Arun hosted a music concert to help fundraise for the Make-A-Wish foundation.

Did you know: Arun Shriram hosts music concert to fundraise for Make-A-Wish foundation

by Julia Huang, TALON Asst. Copy Editor
September 17, 2015
A list of the Mitra Scholars is posted on TV screens located in Shah and Main.

Names of 2015-2016 Near and Mitra scholars released

by Julia Huang, Reporter
May 14, 2015

The life behind Times Square cartoon characters

by Meena Gudapati, Sahana Srinivasan, and Julia Huang
March 29, 2015
If you wish to celebrate Pi day with a Pi-themed pie, look no further. The following recipe attempts to reduce the amount of butter and sugar found in traditional pies.

A healthier Pi pie

by Julia Huang, Reporter
March 9, 2015
Marina Newman (10) asked Shuttleworth a question about the paper he handed out during the meeting. She enquired whether or not he had a copy of Hamlet.

Students learn more about the National Shakespeare Competition during long lunch

by Julia Huang, Reporter
January 29, 2015
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