![“[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.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DSC_8149-900x604.jpg)
![“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.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-25-at-9.50.05-AM-900x594.png)
![“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.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Screen-Shot-2017-06-03-at-4.54.16-PM.png)
![“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.”](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/DSC5146-900x601.jpg)
![“[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.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AnnaGert_JinTuan_HoHPhotoEdited-600x900.jpeg)
![“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.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AlyssaHuang_EmilyChen_HoHPhoto-900x749.jpeg)
- June 24Humans of Harker: Multi-disciplined, multi-dimensional
- June 24Humans of Harker: Continuous and differentiable
- June 24Humans of Harker: Power in profiles
- June 24Humans of Harker: Widening the aperture
- June 24Humans of Harker: Sharing stories, striking serves
- June 24Humans of Harker: Uncovering life’s languages
- June 24Humans of Harker: Journeying past perfection
- June 13Three years of laughter and excellence
- June 13Humans of Harker: Building the script for community
- June 13Humans of Harker: Crafting with care
![“[Basketball] has given me confidence in my abilities and taught me to not hesitate, like shooting your shot in a game when you're open. That also translates to academics. [The sport] is a large part of who I am because a lot of my own traits, like being a little more confident or being more calm during stressful situations, I’ve learned from basketball,” Srivishnu Pyda (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/SrivishnuPyda_LavanyaSubramanian_HoHPhoto-628x900.jpeg)
![The tennis courts at Westmont High in Los Gatos remain locked up. “It’s sort of hard to transition from playing tennis every single day to just not doing anything and sitting around,” varsity tennis co-captain Ramanand Vegesna (12) said. “Sometimes when you’re doing your own workouts it’s hard to stick to something and you kind of get lost in what you want to work on, so I think [Volt is] a really good tool, and people who don’t have a lot of experience working out can use it and figure out what exercise they want to do.”](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IMG_3499-900x675.jpg)
![“Every single practice, I practiced, did what I was supposed to, and I got better. [Academics] is the same – you’re not going to get results if you don’t put in the work,” Vedanth Sundaram (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/VedanthSundaram_IrinaMalyugina_HoHPhoto-900x601.jpg)
