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
“[My motto is to] embrace what comes to you … I was so terrified of embarrassing myself that I never put myself out there for most of high school. It wasn’t until last year until I was like, 'Maybe you should just let go.' I embrace all things that come to me: good things and bad things, because they’ll pass, and I can get through them,” Riva Saksena (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Acting with confidence

by Isha Moorjani and Sally Zhu • January 15, 2020

Face animated and eyes bright with energy, Riva Saksena (12) chuckles as she recounts the events that occurred at one of the SDS productions last year. She describes the passion she had felt while performing,...

“I like anything that’s exciting to me, anything that is an adventure that I don’t know what I’m getting myself into. It’s kind of a thrill for me and I like that feeling. I love drop towers. It’s terrifying being at the top. There’s something that I find really fun about losing control for a few seconds,” Annabelle Ju (12) said.

Humans of Harker: To lose control

by Lucy Ge, Winged Post Asst. News Editor • January 14, 2020

The afternoon sunlight filters through tree branches, casting long shadows on the trails of the nature reserve. She slips on her running shoes, worn from use, and starts jogging, her black hair swishing...

“I love trying new things. I’m always bored with my life, so I try to challenge myself. What I most remember from my experiences are the relationships I form along the way. I’ve been exposed to a broad array of personalities and backgrounds, [which allows] me to create lasting relationships in the process,” Charlotte Blanc (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Breaking the bubble

by Anoushka Buch, TALON Student Life Editor • January 14, 2020

Take a look at Charlotte Blanc (12). What do you see? Most of her peers at Harker see a poised, collected young woman with a mess of freckles and a dancer’s body: someone they’re used to seeing standing...

“When I’m feeling some type of way...art is really a distraction because especially when you’re sketching something and trying to be meticulous about it and really focused on achieving a specific goal. You really have to give it most of your attention which is nice because when I’m in class, I have a lot on my mind and it’s nice to almost be forced to focus on one thing and just take it easy,” Delaney Logue (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Adding color

by Shreya Srinivasan, TALON Managing Editor and Business Manager • January 13, 2020

Laying a colorful striped blanket on the moist grass, Delaney Logue (12) sets her clear box of art supplies and her black headphones down before sitting down. She clicks the triangle-shaped icon on her...

“My courage to do things that are not the mainstream, not what everyone else is doing, boils down to, I’m not afraid to ask questions and challenge what has been before. If you always just acknowledge that without asking, ‘Does it have to be like that, can I improve this,” not being afraid to ask those questions is really what I want to be remembered for,” Ellen Guo (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Courage to question

by Nicole Tian, Co-Lifestyle Editor • January 13, 2020

Tucked beside a corner upstairs in Shah Hall sits the unassuming entrance to the Near Mitra Scholar Center with a sign on the door inviting those inquisitive students. Upon entering the room, the walls...

“I definitely do programming, and that's my thing for sure. But I also like other stuff. I guess the best way I can describe myself is like organized chaos. Everything is happening in all sorts of all but limited in some way. It's like split identities, but they're all unified in some way that I don’t know,” Bennett Liu (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Organized chaos

by Varsha Rammohan, Co-Managing Editor • January 12, 2020

Dressed in a bright red Harker CTF sweatshirt and blue jeans, Bennett Liu (12) dumps out the contents of his backpack on the chilly Nichols Hall floor. Out tumbles a copy of V for Vendetta, a tangled pair...

“There's nothing like that feeling you get. You can't really put it into words. Just getting a new experience or learning something that completely changes the way you think.  And you can't do that by doing the same thing over and over. You can't do that by staying in your comfort zone, you know? And I can't describe the feeling, but it's — it's something else,” Martin Bourdev (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Pushing limits

by Aditya Singhvi, Co-Sports Editor • January 12, 2020

As he leans back on a couch in the Nichols Rotunda, one leg crossed over the other, a sparkle emerges in his eyes and his usually-deep voice reaches a pitch of child-like wonder, unable to contain his...

“Because I started off from, ‘I didn't know what to say, I couldn't say anything,’ to, in a roleplay, figuring out what am I going to say, how am I going to say it, that really helped me structure my thinking and my speaking skills where I'm not just droning on. When I start talking, I know what I want to say and the point I want to get across,” Ishaan Chandra (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Lead and learn

by Nilisha Baid, TALON Organizations, People and Social Media Editor • January 11, 2020

Freshmen and sophomores swarm to Ishaan Chandra (12) during DECA’s Silicon Valley Career Development Conference (SVCDC). Ranging from “Where’s the bathroom?” to questions about the event, they...

"Going to school with kids who are ambitious, motivated, curious, just intellectual, is something that is just powerful because I don't think I could have those conversations with anyone else my age unless they also similarly valued education like I do. Something that I’m passionate about is just people becoming more aware and involved in their own communities and just being aware of current events,” Caroline Yager (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Learning art

by Irene Yuan, Asst. Photo Editor • January 11, 2020

Black and white sketches cover a wall of the room, the scenes carefully drawn without smudging the graphite lines. Clipped to an easel in the corner of the room opposite from the windows is a black and...

“The way the world's working right now and the way technology is advancing, it’s really important to connect [technology] to social issues, especially with the ubiquitous use...nowadays. If you don't connect [technology] to social studies such as psychology or sociology, you miss out on a big impact to change the world or improve the world,” Vibha Arramreddy (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Coding for a cause

by Nilisha Baid, TALON Organizations, People and Social Media Editor • January 10, 2020

Eighth and ninth grade students dash across the San Jose Public Library's community room, racing to write down the next line of code in a series. Cheering in excitement, each team aims to complete their...

“[Leading robotics] has been just like the same attitude I've approached everything [with] recently. It’s taught me that most people don't actually know what they're doing, and it's the people that are willing to admit that they don't know what they're doing and try to learn that do the best,” Sanjay Rajasekharan (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Built for the job

by Mark Hu, Winged Post STEM Editor • January 9, 2020

Standing next to an intricate machine, fit with rubber rollers and metal bars running up and down the sides, Sanjay Rajasekharan (12) fiddles with a large battery that powers the entire robot. He smoothly...

“[I'm] never going to let myself go out of control to the point where I feel horrible... that's why I went to Mount Whitney because I needed to prove to myself [that even though] I have this chronic autoimmune disease, it's not going to stop me from doing amazing things,” Jasmine Wiese (12) said.

Humans of Harker: A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down

by Sarah Mohammed and Lauren Liu • January 9, 2020

A roller coaster. That’s how Jasmine Wiese (12) describes her senior year. But it can be used to illustrate her life as well, from the apex of her health to a downward swirling spiral of insulin pumps...

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