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
Vivek Bharadwaj

Vivek Bharadwaj, Winged Post Co-Editor-In-Chief

Vivek Bharadwaj (12) is the co-Editor-In-Chief for the Winged Post. His favorite subject in school is computer science, and he enjoys swimming and watching Seinfeld in his spare time. He loves the color orange.

All content by Vivek Bharadwaj
Visitors relax on Laguna Beach. Normally, the water closest to the shore is mild, anywhere from 60 to 70 degrees (courtesy of Wikimedia Commons).

Seniors travel to Southern California for class trip

by Vivek Bharadwaj, Nicole Chen, and Prameela Kottapalli
May 5, 2016
Winged Post editors-in-chief comment on their experience

Winged Post editors-in-chief comment on their experience

by Vivek Bharadwaj and Elisabeth Siegel
May 5, 2016

Elections for class, honor councils held

by Vivek Bharadwaj, Editor-in-Chief
May 5, 2016
Overcoming second semester requires a final push

Overcoming second semester requires a final push

by Vivek Bharadwaj, Editor in Chief
March 25, 2016
Spanish teacher Diana Moss shows off her moves during the salsa competition.

Spanish NHS hosts salsa dancing at cultural night

by Vivek Bharadwaj and Tiffany Wong
March 23, 2016
Vivek Bharadwaj (12) is the Co-Editor-In-Chief for the Winged Post. His favorite subject in school is computer science, and he enjoys swimming and watching Seinfeld in his spare time. He loves the color orange.

Second semester allows for more exploration

by Vivek Bharadwaj, Editor in Chief
March 4, 2016
Students discuss the wet and dry trash system. The Green Team will continue to work with ASB to increase campus sustainability throughout the year.

Green Team discusses wet dry system, plans schedule for upcoming semester

by Vivek Bharadwaj, Winged Post Editor-in-Chief
March 2, 2016
The Federal Civil Defense Administration used Bert the Turtle to demonstrate “Duck and Cover” to elementary students during the 1950s. Although these drills seem impractical in retrospect, they are not so different from campus intruder drills currently used to combat gun violence.

Threat drills perpetuate fear rather than treat it

by Vivek Bharadwaj, Winged Post Co-Editor-In-chief
January 27, 2016
Senior Vivek Bharadwaj poses in a suit. He recently decided to wear a similar outfit but without a blazer) to school to change up his attire and escape his daily routine.

Impromptu: Breaking away from my routine

by Vivek Bharadwaj, Winged Post Co-Editor-in-Chief
November 21, 2015
On college admissions: a response

On college admissions: a response

by Vivek Bharadwaj, Winged Post co-Editor-In-Chief
November 6, 2015
Alex Wang (10) wires up a breadboard in his computer architecture class. Ahmed's plight has resonated with many similar "makers" around the world.

#IStandWithAhmed, and so should Harker

by Vivek Bharadwaj, Winged Post Co-Editor-In-chief
October 18, 2015
Teachers Pilar Aguero-Esparza and Lola Muldrew announce the dress code forum at a class meeting. The dress code has been a popular point of discussion at the upper school.

Dress code changes lead to open discussion between students and administration

by Sharanya Balaji, Vivek Bharadwaj, Kavya Ramakrishnan, and Meena Gudapati
October 18, 2015
Chemistry teacher Andrew Irvine holds a jar of uranium oxide. He infused ceramic with depleted uranium to great a unique yellow glaze.

Chemistry teacher infuses ceramic with depleted uranium

by Vivek Bharadwaj, Winged Post Editor-in-Chief
September 2, 2015
In this repeating guest column, we encourage all student writers from around the community to share their memorable experiences while at the Upper School.

Heart of Harker: My quest to meet everyone in my grade

by Vivek Bharadwaj, Winged Post Editor-in-chief
September 1, 2015
Cheering Key Club members introduce the class of 2019 through a tunnel of hands. Freshmen Orientation was held on Aug. 20.

Freshman Class of 2019 joins Upper School

by Derek Yen and Adrian Chu
August 31, 2015
Shreya Sunkara (11) acts as part of the Speech and Debate senior sendoff skit in last year's assembly. The second annual Senior Appreciation Assembly will be held on May 22.

Remembering the Seniors

by Tara Parimi, Aquila Copy Editor
May 15, 2015
Christian Williams (12) trains in the gym off-season for football on Monday afternoon. As summer approaches, more students amp up health and fitness goals.

Students set health and fitness goals before summer months

by Priscilla Pan and Aditya Varshney
April 30, 2015
Juniors Jonathan Ma and Rishabh Chandra discuss problems to practice for the State and International Bowls. Students will compete in the Southern California State Bowl on April 21.

Future Problem Solvers head to state bowl

by Raveena Kapatkar and Vivek Bharadwaj
March 25, 2015
184 Hours: Preparing for the FIRST Robotics Competition

184 Hours: Preparing for the FIRST Robotics Competition

by Vivek Bharadwaj and Kavya Ramakrishnan
January 29, 2015
Game on!

Game on!

by Vivek Bharadwaj, WP STEM Editor
January 28, 2015
Professor Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu talks about authenticity during the second of two assemblies held today afternoon. Shigematsu covered a variety of topics during his speech, including mindfulness, individuality, and finding one's path in life.

Stanford professor speaks about societal pressures and individuality

by Vivek Bharadwaj, Winged Post STEM Editor
November 7, 2014
Apple rolled out its new way to pay on all devices running iOS 8.1 this Monday. The service covers a variety of stores and credit cards and works by simply taking a picture of a credit card to save it to the Passbook app.

Apple Pay goes live

by Vivek Bharadwaj
October 23, 2014
Juniors Amar Jain, Shreya Sankara and Aathira Menon watch the Giants game in the Bistro. The Giants defeated the Kansas City Royals 7-1 in the first game of the World Series.

Giants defeat Royals in game one of the World Series

by Vivek Bharadwaj, Winged Post Tech Editor
October 21, 2014
Apple showed off the new iPhone 6 today in a keynote address by Tim Cook. The new iPhone was debuted alongside a new iWatch in a standard model witha 4.7 inch screen and a Plus model with a 5.5 inch screen.

Apple’s iPhone 6 features larger screen, revamped screen size, and hardware improvements

by Vivek Bharadwaj, Winged Post Tech Editor
September 9, 2014

Senior joins National Youth Orchestra

by Vivek Bharadwaj, STEM editor
August 31, 2014
Drop off loop changed to ease traffic flow

Drop off loop changed to ease traffic flow

by Vivek Bharadwaj, STEM editor
August 31, 2014
BooksRender

Amazon Steps Up Its Competitive Edge

August 29, 2014

First annual Senior Appreciation Assembly held

by Vivek Bharadwaj, Reporter
May 22, 2014

How I learned (to hate) to tie a bow tie

by Vivek Bharadwaj, Winged Post Assistant Sports Editor
May 18, 2014

Metaphor Mania: Students share metaphors of the school

by Vivek Bharadwaj, Reporter
April 24, 2014

Japanese Internment Timeline

by Vivek Bharadwaj and Vasudha Rengarajan
April 5, 2014
Creativity beyond the Classroom: Art Teachers as Artists

Creativity beyond the Classroom: Art Teachers as Artists

by Vivek Bharadwaj and Tara Parimi
April 5, 2014

Upper School campus experiences blackout

by Vivek Bharadwaj
April 1, 2014
CareerConnect holds computer science panel

CareerConnect holds computer science panel

by Vivek Bharadwaj
March 26, 2014

Bees swarm after school

by Vivek Bharadwaj
March 18, 2014
Technology at the 2014 Winter Olympics

Technology at the 2014 Winter Olympics

by Vivek Bharadwaj and Vedant Thyagaraj
February 7, 2014
Girls' Varsity soccer defeats Eastside College Prep 9-0

Girls’ Varsity soccer defeats Eastside College Prep 9-0

by Vivek Bharadwaj
January 7, 2014
Like any guilty pleasure, advice columns are hard to put down in spite of my commitment to stop.

My guilty pleasure: advice columns

by Vivek Bharadwaj, Reporter
November 11, 2013
Evan Lohn (10) disposes of trash near the water bottle fill station in Main Hall. The announcement made by the Harker Green Committee specifies exactly which type of wastes belong in the trash and which to be recycled.

New Harker Green Committee Urges Students to Think Eco-Friendly

by Vivek Bharadwaj and Priscilla Pan
September 4, 2013
Upper School Welcomes Class of 2017 with Fun-Filled Freshman Orientation

Upper School Welcomes Class of 2017 with Fun-Filled Freshman Orientation

by Vivek Bharadwaj
August 26, 2013
Students wait outside the gym for the AP Chemistry exam. The tests, given by the College Board, are taken by students across the nation, and test-takers receive their results in July.

Chemistry, psychology, environmental science tests kick off AP week

by Vivek Bharadwaj
May 6, 2013
A Twitter page on the Syrian Revolution provides updates on ongoing conflicts. Twitter sparked protests before, most notably in the 2011 Egyptian revolution against Hosni Mubarak.

Double nature of social media

by Vivek Bharadwaj
March 22, 2013
Eagle Express Customer Kunal Mehta (9) reaches for a sweatshirt to try on. The Eagle Express had $350 in sales within two days of its opening.

Grand opening of new student store Eagle Express

by Vivek Bharadwaj
February 5, 2013
Varsity team captain Simar Mangat (12) kicks a soccer ball during practice. The Varsity team plays its first game on November 20 against Saratoga High School.

Drills and conditioning kick off boys’ soccer season

by Vivek Bharadwaj
November 9, 2012
A peeled passion fruit plucked from just outside the greenhouse. Its insides are filled with seeds.

Inside the greenhouse: five years later, still thriving

by Vivek Bharadwaj
November 4, 2012
Kinematix, the team's robot (right), shoots a ball at the hoops. The Upper School robotics team competed in the Calgames Robotics Tournament on Saturday, October 13.

Upper School takes part in Calgames Robotics Tournament

by Vivek Bharadwaj
October 15, 2012
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