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
"I think it's good to have a competitive nature. I don't think it's a good thing to not believe in yourself and to quit easily and not put in the work. I feel like if you think you can do it, you probably can, you just have to put in the work,” Giovanni Rofa (12) said.

Humans of Harker: The spirit of competition

by Nina Gee, Winged Post Design Editor • November 16, 2019

Ask anyone at Harker if they know Giovanni “Gio” Rofa (12). Chances are, they'll describe him as one of three things: a great friend, a star basketball player or someone as hard-working as he is competitive....

“I really like bonding with people of different mindsets, different cultures. All these different cultures around the world, they're distant in the fact that you almost don't even know if the culture exists if you don't understand their language. Once I went to Japan and started studying the language, so many different aspects of their culture just made themselves apparent to me. It was like a whole new world,” Henry Cuningham (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Blazing his own trail

by Eric Fang, Winged Post Editor-in-Chief • November 15, 2019

Wearing a black “thrasher” hoodie and navy blue sweatpants, Henry Cuningham (12) allows himself to sink back into his seat while talking about the latest anime he has begun watching. Despite his joking...

“When I was younger, whenever I wasn’t playing well, I’d let myself break down on the course, but I had to learn that it’s okay. One bad hole isn’t going to ruin the entire round. I feel like that’s really representative of real life too. One bad day isn’t going to ruin the rest of my life. [With golf], I’ve really had to learn how to bounce back from any obstacles that come in my way,” Katelyn Vo (12) said.

Humans of Harker: On par with life

by Arushi Saxena, Winged Post News Editor • November 11, 2019

Amazing golfer. Warm and charismatic teammate. Resilient and focused athlete. When asked about Katelyn, these are common responses. While Katelyn’s skills on the golf course are undeniable, it’s the...

“There's a division between your character that you're portraying on stage and who you are in real life, but it's kind of not necessarily a straight-cut division. I felt the confidence I gained as a person and the energy that I had translated to my artistic work and made me a better performer and more confident and comfortable on stage, which lended myself to the charisma on stage that I had. I guess people noticed, which gave me even more confidence — I felt like I was doing something right,” Joel Morel (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Presence on and off the stage

by Emily Tan, Asst. Features Editor • November 9, 2019

Clad in a spring green polo and suspender set, Joel Morel (12) bounces across the stage, raising his eyebrows and smiling from ear to ear during upper school choir Downbeat’s performance of “Na na...

“I've definitely used [my different community perspective] in terms of my friends by exposing them to Lebanese culture. I always have them try my food, I have them come to the Lebanese festival I have every year, I teach them how to dance because a lot of what Lebanese people are known for is ‘Lebanese hospitality.’ I definitely think my family and my culture has introduced these values of generosity and compassion to me,” Grace Hajjar (12) said.

Humans of Harker: The Good Host

by Alysa Suleiman, Sports Reporter • November 8, 2019

Absentmindedly twisting the thin gold jewelry adorning her fingers and neck in delicate chains and swirling roses, Grace Hajjar (12) recalls the story behind each piece: the baptism necklace from her aunt...

“The way to get game sense is just by playing the game more. Similarly, as you do more projects in computer science, you start understanding what constructs or methods or strategies you can use to solve the problems you are trying to solve. The optimal solutions are more and more visible the more similar situations you experience,” Henry Wiese (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Calling the shots

by Srinath Somasundaram, Opinion Editor • November 7, 2019

Henry Wiese (12) leans forward, aligning his back parallel to the sides of his computer screen, poised to call his team’s final strategy in a game of Overwatch. A mash of keys and a flurry of mouse clicks...

"For me, it’s just doing things that are stupid and mundane, and then doing them with friends makes them fun, and exciting and unique — I just like that," Mihir Sharma (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Stringing together

by Arya Maheshwari, Aquila Co-Managing Editor • November 6, 2019

The neon Penn tennis ball rebounds sharply between the flat racket and the ground, its every movement guided by a rapid impulse from the vibrating Wilson strings. With his headphones on and his head swaying,...

“The universe is huge. Whatever ripple your little sand grain makes in this pond of a universe, those ripples are insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Those consequences that you think are going to crush down on you aren't that big when you are looking at the universe's scale. And you might say, 'Why not just stay in bed then and do nothing because nothing I do is worth it.' Well, then why not do everything then. It's kind of a way of looking at [life]. Just go crazy,” Jin Tuan (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Just go crazy

by Sara Yen, Features Editor • November 4, 2019

Clicks from her black Doc Martens hitting the pavement resound as Jin Tuan (12) confidently struts down the path between the RPAC and Main Office. A floral velvet button-up tucked into ripped black jeans...

"I internalize a lot of things. Inside I'm pretty creative, but that could be subjective. It's easier to communicate with yourself what you're thinking than with others...I feel like when you keep things to yourself, your thoughts progress more rapidly even if you're [not] getting an outside perspective," Richard Hu (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Satisfaction in duality

by Anthony Xu, TALON Editor-in-Chief • November 2, 2019

Every day, when you walk past the green tables outside the journalism room during the hustle and bustle of lunchtime, you may hear a sudden outburst of genuine laughter pierce the regular conversations...

"I think [my organization] is important because I've always had this sense of duty or responsibility. That was a personal thing. My parents never forced it on me. I like it when I can see what I’m going to do or have to do so I can finish things early," Katie Chang (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Motivation beyond the quiet face

by Arely Sun, Co-Lifestyle Editor • October 31, 2019

Perched on tall chairs in the Nichols Rotunda, Katie Chang (12) and her friends focus intently as they quiz each other on biology terms. She whispers some witty words, and the table erupts into a bout...

“When I perform, I feel liberated. I’m focused on the moment and immersed in the music. I love that feeling of being able to just focus on the music and kind of forget everything else. What's really great to see is when people are really enjoying the music they’re feeling it, dancing, singing along. It was really extraordinary to see that,” Max Lee (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Playing for a cause

by Carter Chadwick, Humans of Harker Profiler • October 25, 2019

Though the streets are packed with people moving about their day, it is hard not to miss Max Lee (12) on the piano playing with the Jazz Factor. Jazz Factor is a band that has performed at school and...

“It’s all about mindsets for me. I try to live on my own terms by doing things that make me happy, surrounding myself with people that encourage my growth and trying to find the positives out of situations. Reflecting on where I am now and how I can be the best current version of myself is something I prioritize instead of the past or the future. It’s more important to live in the moment, focusing on what to do now and how to help make an impact now because otherwise, you’re never going to get anything done in life,” Radhika Jain (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Breathe in, breathe out

by Helen Zhu, TALON Academics Editor • October 24, 2019

Greeted with a “Thanks! You’re all signed in!” by the instructor scanning her membership keycard, Radhika Jain (12) heads into the locker room, takes off her chocolate-colored Rainbow flip-flops...

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