class of 2020 – Harker Aquila

Humans of Harker: All fun and games

“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.

July 1, 2020

As music blares in the parking lot after school, a flurry of cards sprays into the air and scatters all over the shining roof of the jet black Mazda6 as Montek Kalsi ('20) — clad in an olive sweatshirt and gold-rimmed glasses — poses through the sunroof for his Humans of Harker portrait, a smile on ...

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Humans of Harker: Leadership and love

“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.

by Emily Chen, TALON Co-Editor-in-Chief

June 30, 2020

Even at a small school like Harker, it’s tough to remember everyone’s names, especially if they’re in a different grade. But there’s one person everyone knows—Alyssa Huang ('20). Whether she's announcing the sale of Valentine’s Grams or hanging up appreciation posters for the school’s staf...

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Humans of Harker: Grit and grind

by Nina Gee and Sydney Takemoto

June 19, 2020

This is the fourth installment of the Humans of Harker 2020 video series. Through this project, the Harker journalism program aims to tell the story of the senior class, one profile at a time. ...

Tags: class of 2020, ethan hu, humans of harker, senior profiles, seniors, video, video profile

Humans of Harker: Artistic nonconformity

by Michael Eng and Nina Gee

June 17, 2020

This is the third installment of the Humans of Harker 2020 video series. Through this project, the Harker journalism program aims to tell the story of the senior class, one profile at a time. ...

Tags: class of 2020, gina partridge, humans of harker, senior profiles, seniors, video, video profile

Humans of Harker: Make the most out of every moment

“I like being guided by the idea of making the most out of any situation because it is intentionally ambiguous. It gives me the flexibility to define it as I see fit. And then pursue it as I see fit,” Nerine Uyanik (’20) said.

by Jessie Wang, Senior Copy Editor

June 17, 2020

“Keep putting out good. It will return to you tenfold in unexpected ways.” That’s the piece of wisdom found at the bottom of every email sent by Nerine Uyanik ('20). A variation on a quote by Farrah Gray, the adage found its way into the bottom of Nerine’s email signature in early 2018, b...

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Humans of Harker: Story of a STEMinist

“My ability to adjust to these situations by readily adapting and optimizing the outcome of the unpredictable led to superior outcomes and taught me the power of flexibility and open-mindedness. The unknown used to terrify me, but I have learned to recognize, appreciate and find comfort in unplanned spaces. Rather than remaining married to my plans, I have gained trust in myself to think creatively on the spot and in others,” Aarzu Gupta (’20) said.

by Kathy Fang, Editor-in-Chief

June 9, 2020

Aarzu Gupta’s (‘20) journey into the world of coding began on the other side of the fence: in art. Specifically, with a digital turtle who could draw upon command. In elementary school, Aarzu, who attended Challenger School at the time, was introduced to computer science through the program Te...

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Humans of Harker: Someone to talk to

“I'm a firm believer in the idea that you need to have healthy relationships and healthy friendships in order to grow in order to feel confident in yourself. And part of that is understanding what you deserve and how you deserve to be treated, which is really hard, especially when you're going through high school. I think that if you surround yourself with people who are trying to and willing to help you grow and it's just a mutually beneficial relationship, you can get through almost anything that life throws at you,” Emi Armstrong (12) said.

by Esha Gohil, Humans of Harker Managing Editor

June 8, 2020

A quiet excitement fills the crowd as the curtains open and the lights begin to shift from black to a blue-violet hue, illuminating the silhouettes of the dancers ready to perform in the Harker’s annual dance show. As Usher’s uptempo song “DJ Got Us Fallin’ in Love” fills the theatre of th...

Tags: class of 2020, emi armstrong, emiko armstrong, humans of harker, senior profiles, seniors

Class of 2020: Humans of Harker compilation, part five

by Saloni Shah, Humans of Harker Editor-in-Chief

June 1, 2020

Due to the unprecedented circumstances surrounding COVID-19, our seniors cannot experience their spring semester and graduation in its traditional format. Yet, we want to honor the Class of 2020 and celebrate together. In this spirit, we present to you our fifth installment of a six-part series of “Class...

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Humans of Harker: The man behind the myth

“I'm definitely still someone around campus that might be regarded as maybe the funny guy or somebody that people know is a specific type of person, but I feel like I've been able to shift maybe away from being a very specific one-dimensional person that people know as a specific thing and grow into someone people know as a real person,” Nash Melisso (’20) said.

by Nina Gee, Winged Post Managing Editor

June 1, 2020

There’s something of a living legend on campus. You might not even know he’s passed you until he’s halfway across the quad. But you’ll find him, if you know where to look. You’ll hear whispers of his name around campus, and everyone has a story with him. Maybe they fist-bumped him on the way...

Tags: class of 2020, humans of harker, nash melisso, nathaniel melisso, senior profiles, seniors

Humans of Harker: The force awakens

“I've always been fascinated by stories. For film, I always loved every time I watched a movie or tv show – even when I was little watching ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars – I would love discussing it with my family. Those days I didn't know how to analyze it, and I was just talking about all these facts I'd learned from Wikipedia pages. But as I read more in class, I really found enjoyment in using those terms and structures we'd discussed in our English classes. I've been really interested in film the past couple of years,” Kalyan Narayanan (’20) said.

by Lauren Liu, Winged Post Copy Editor

June 1, 2020

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Kalyan Narayanan ('20) looked to the horizon, to the light of the twin sunsets of his home world of humble beginnings, with a dream of adventuring throughout the stars. Little did he know, several years later a war commenced in the Galaxy. Pursued by the E...

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Humans of Harker: Staying stylish

by Erica Cai and Esha Gohil

May 30, 2020

This is the second installment of the Humans of Harker 2020 video series. Through this project, the Harker journalism program aims to tell the story of the senior class, one profile at a time. ...

Tags: class of 2020, humans of harker, rani sheth, senior profiles, seniors, video, video profile

Humans of Harker: Dancing with dedication

“It’s really hard to find time for things that you genuinely like to do for yourself, not for anyone else, not for college, not for any reason, just because you simply like to do it and dance is one of the few things that make me genuinely happy, and I really don’t feel obligated to anyone,” Larissa Tyagi ('20) said.

by Esha Gohil, Humans of Harker Managing Editor

May 30, 2020

“Five couples on the floor with four events. The first dance is,” a heavy pause fills the air around the couples on the dance floor as they await the news of which dance they will be improving to. “Cha-cha,” finishes the commentator of the City Lights Ballroom Competition. Latin music fills ...

Tags: class of 2020, humans of harker, larissa tyagi, senior profiles, seniors