The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

Tiffany Chang

Tiffany Chang, Humans of Harker Editor-in-Chief

Tiffany Chang (12) is the editor-in-chief of Humans of Harker, and this is her fourth year on staff. She’s looking forward to telling the story of the Class of 2023, one profile at a time. Outside of journalism, she enjoys hanging out with her dog Mochi and trying new brews at coffee shops. During non-school hours, you’re more likely than not to find her at Philz Coffee!

All content by Tiffany Chang
Spirit is definitely one of the biggest parts of my life at Harker, especially last year on HSLT. I really like being involved in spirit because you get to interact with your classmates and just take your mind off of academics for a bit. I don’t want to sound cliche, but its high school. Enjoy it while it lasts, Ashley Ma (23) said.

Humans of Harker: From a spark to a flame

by Hima Thota, Co-Features Editor
August 17, 2023
I like to see how much I’ve grown. I’m proud to say that the Charmander on my screen became a real sketch; and maybe someday I can create a game that inspires someone like it did for me, Carlo Banzon (23) said.

Humans of Harker: Sketches from a screen

by Ananya Sriram, Winged Post Co-Managing Editor
June 1, 2023
Upper school faculty members Kelly Horan, Karen Haley and Whitney Huang hold cups of ice cream from Van Leeuwen. Established in 2008, the New York City-based chain Van Leeuwen Ice Cream has become a ubiquitous presence in the city, with over 20 locations.

Van Leeuwen Ice Cream

by Tiffany Chang, Humans of Harker Editor-in-Chief
March 18, 2023
“The thing I enjoy most about basketball is meeting new people from different schools in the Bay Area because a lot of different people from different schools come to the park. People I otherwise wouldn’t have had the chance to meet play basketball,” Mir Bahri (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Making change and making friends

by Isabella Lo, Asst. Opinions Editor
March 16, 2023
“When I went to Korea and came back, it really made me recognize, in the U.S., a lot of the troubles that we faced in the past few years are because people are becoming more individualistic and too focused on ‘me’ and not the rest of the community. Coming back from South Korea, thats something that I really internalized, Michelle Jin (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Narration with nuance

by Emma Gao, Co-News Editor
March 8, 2023
“A big challenge that I had to overcome for percussion was becoming less afraid of mistakes. When youre the loudest in the room, every mistake you make is going to be amplified a hundredfold. But in order to play your part, youre going to have to just go for it. That spirit has really developed because of percussion, but has carried over to other areas of my life,” Jacob Huang (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Orchestrating community

by Felix Chen, Asst. News Editor
February 17, 2023
“Guitar tells you that you have to gauge your progress against not what youre doing now, but what you tried to do in the past. If you feel like you havent improved at something, or if you feel like youre not getting better at something, you have to gauge yourself against how you used to be and keep an open perspective. That also carries over to life in the sense that you can always check how much youve improved. Chances are, you have improved even if youre not aware of it,” Vikram Mani (12) said.

Humans of Harker: In tune with the mind

by Kevin Zhang, Asst. Sports Editor
February 16, 2023
“I stuck with computer science because it has so many real world applications that other disciplines don’t. You can make so many different inferences about a real world situation like basketball given just a bit of data,” Rishi Cherukuri (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Programming positivity

by Edward Huang, Co-STEM Editor
February 16, 2023
“Apart from the technical skills, one of the main things I took away from research was the fact that you could take a question you had and run with it. For my sophomore to junior year project, I took a question I had from biology class and thought, ‘What if I read a paper about it? What if I pursued it more?’ The fact that I was able to do that was revelatory to me, Aaron Tran (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Truth seeker

by Tiffany Chang, TALON Academics Editor
May 13, 2022
“You have to think on your feet and come up with arguments quickly in [Lincoln-Douglas]. I am not hesitant to speak. When I do, I can create ideas pretty clearly and communicate to others and, even if I don’t transform their minds, I try to help them see something, Akhilesh Chegu (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Lifting the spirit

by Tiffany Chang, TALON Academics Editor
April 26, 2022
“I never played polo before playing [that year, so] I was nervous. I was learning the whole thing. I feel like I got lucky because we didnt have anyone who was a goalie for JV. I was like, ‘Oh, Im kind of tall and long.’ So I tried being a goalie. I was lucky that I was naturally good at it, and I got more confidence from there, Andrew Chen (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Seeking discomfort

by Bryan Xiao, Reporter
April 12, 2022
Anandita Arun (9) swings at the ball during the varsity girls tennis teams win over Notre Dame Belmont on Sept. 28.

Weekly Previews: Nov. 8-12

by Vishnu Kannan, Co-Managing Editor
November 8, 2021
“Pretty much anyone, given the right circumstance, has the ability to learn, but the willingness and openness to learn and discuss new things and change their views on something [is what I value], Catherine Feng (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Connecting through conversation

by Tiffany Chang, TALON Academics Editor
November 3, 2021
Anushka Mehrotra (11) swings at the tennis ball.

Weekly Previews: Oct. 25-29

by Desiree Luo, Asst. Sports Editor
October 24, 2021
Rupert Chen (11) runs in the San Fransisco Full Marathon on Sept. 19. Rupert finished the marathon in 3:26:14, placing first in the 16 and under category and 182nd among the races 3180 total participants.

Apex: Crossing the finish line

by Tiffany Chang, TALON Academics Editor
October 7, 2021
The cross country team works out outside the weight room during practice on Sept. 14.

Weekly Previews: Sept. 20-26

by Vishnu Kannan, Co-Managing Editor
September 20, 2021
Freshmen mentees listen to mentor Sujith Pakala (12) discuss how to edit their executive plan. DECA Launch began on Saturday afternoon and continued throughout Sunday.

DECA kicks off school year with DECA Launch

by Tiffany Chang, TALON Academics Editor
August 18, 2021
“There are some ways where impact is tangible, like through the Model UN program or through publishing the history journal. But really, I think what’s most meaningful is my legacy. The most meaningful part is something intangible: bringing joy into people’s lives and creating a community that values growth learning, or energy, or enthusiasm and humor. That’s something people can carry on further in life, not just for their time in high school,” Andrew Lu (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Leading with vigor

by Tiffany Chang, TALON Academics Editor
April 27, 2021
“There’s a lot of social skills and communication skills that you get from [theater]. There’s just this bonding and camaraderie you can get from these ensembles, from these big groups, and it’s invaluable. That sense of community [and] belonging just keeps me going back because I’m comfortable there, the other people are comfortable, and we’re all just trying to help each other,” Austin Killam (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Full of zest

by Tiffany Chang, TALON Conservatory Editor
December 24, 2020
“I really love photography, especially wildlife photography ... [Recently,] I haven’t been able to get outside as much, but it was just fun to create last year. In my sophomore year, I did something related to photography and robotics — I led media and created the videos. That was a lot of fun and that’s what drew me into videography and photography,” Arthur Jakobsson (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Amicable and dependable

by Tiffany Chang, TALON Conservatory Editor
November 12, 2020
“I definitely gravitate towards people that have some sense of ambition ... When I feel like were all working towards something that we want, I feel like we have a connection and its easy to relate to them,” Annie Ma (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Purposeful ambition

by Tiffany Chang, TALON Reporter
April 27, 2020
“You know when you love something it immediately clicks? That’s what happened for me when I started singing. Singing to me is therapeutic: when I’m not in the right mindset, I hum a tune or bop out to a song to motivate me. This feeling is amplified when I sing in a group; with our combined voices, I bring smiles to more faces than just mine,” Alex Shing (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Go green or go home

by Tiffany Chang, TALON Reporter
April 22, 2020
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