The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila
“Sometimes when you're in the midst of things, it's kind of hard to see whether things are changing for the better or not. One part of being a leader is knowing where to put your own time and effort and energy into. You have to understand that sometimes things won't work out the way you want them to, but you just have to keep moving forward. Things will not fail because of one mistake or bump in the road," senior Atharv Goel said.
Humans of Harker: Grit and gears
Humans of Harker: Sprinting towards self-fulfillment
Humans of Harker: Sprinting towards self-fulfillment
“I've been doing programming and CS for a while, but I get a lot more enjoyment out of making games. It's something that will give me something tangible compared to working on code problems or fine tuning some specific software. This is a lot more physical to me, even though it's still digital. It feels a lot more personal because it's something that I can physically play," senior Pranav Sukesh said.
Humans of Harker: For the love of the game
“Oftentimes on the Veena, I'm able to play out tunes that are familiar for the seniors. I played a lot of classics for them, which they really seem to enjoy. And it's been fulfilling because a lot of them have never seen the instrument before, so they'll come up to me after and ask me to explain how it works. It's really exciting for me to be able to share my culture and also connect with their culture," senior Hasini Namala said.
Humans of Harker: Culture and chords
Humans of Harker: A flash of color
Humans of Harker: A flash of color
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
Jack Yang ('24) speaks about his commitment to Pomona Pitzer at the college athletics signing ceremony in May 2024. Jack played both club and varsity high school soccer.

College recruiting provides competition and community

by Emma Milner and Eva Cheng • March 8, 2025

After more than 13 years of pushing through soccer training sessions and balancing academics and extracurriculars, Jack Yang (‘24) felt compelled to further his career post-high school. Rather than hanging...

Seniors Katelyn Hsu, Emi Fujimura and Metrica Shi smile with their coach Ie-Chen Cheng. The team plays in a lighthearted nine-hole round at Los Lagos golf course every year.

Varsity girls golf send seniors off with gifts and goodbyes

by Ashley Mo, Co-STEM Editor • May 17, 2024

Varsity girls golf celebrated seniors Emi Fujimura, Katelyn Hsu and Metrica Shi at Los Lagos golf course on May 11. Per the team’s tradition, the girls commemorated senior night with a lighthearted...

Kimaya Mehta (9), playing for her first year on the high school varsity girls golf team, follows through with her swing. The girls golf team emerged undefeated in the West Bay Athletic League (WBAL) for the fifth consecutive year, making it to the Central Coast Championships (CCS).

Swinging through rain or shine: Girls golf team brings their best

by Emma Milner, Co-Assistant Sports Editor • November 29, 2022

Another year, another successful season.  The girls golf team emerged undefeated in the West Bay Athletic League (WBAL) for the fifth consecutive year, making it to the Central Coast Championships...

Alex Lan (11), Cynthia Wang (10), Eric Li (9) and Kailash Ranganathan (12) from the ASB Community Service Committee introduced Thanksgiving grams, which were sold on Thursday and Friday, with a short skit. Each gram includes chocolate, stickers, stationery and a personalized message for $3 as a way to show gratitude throughout the community.

School meeting recap 11/4/21: DECA Month, Thanksgiving grams and spirit standings

by Medha Yarlagadda, Reporter • November 7, 2021

Associated Student Body (ASB) president Dawson Chen (12) started off the school meeting on Thursday by introducing DECA officers Catherine He (12), Shreeya Merchia (10) and Claire Luo (10), who talked...

Veyd Patil (10) sprints to the finish at the Artichoke Invitational cross country meet on Oct. 2.

Weekly Previews: Oct. 11-15

by Desiree Luo, Reporter • October 11, 2021

Football Coming off a 26-42 loss to Marina High School on Saturday at the annual Homecoming Game, the varsity football team, which now has a record of 2-4, will play against Watsonville High School in...

Zeke Wang (11) drinks water on the sideline during the varsity football team's match against Valley Christian on Sept. 10.

Weekly Previews: Oct. 4-10

by Vishnu Kannan, Co-Managing Editor • October 3, 2021

Football Coming off a 38-44 loss to Priory last Friday, the varsity football team will face off against Marina High School at home this Saturday at 6:00 p.m. for the annual Homecoming Game. Water...

Rachel Ning (11) sets opposite hitter Jessica Tang (11) during the girls varsity volleyball team's match again Santa Cruz High School on Sept. 3.

Weekly Previews: Sept. 27-Oct. 3

by Kinnera Mulam, Olivia Xu, and Desiree Luo • September 26, 2021

Football Coming off a 54-46 victory against Crystal Springs Uplands last Thursday, the varsity football team, with a current record of 2-2, will face Priory in an away game this Friday at 3:30 p.m. Water...

Olivia Guo (12) swings her club during the girls golf team's Senior Night on June 10. The boys and girls golf teams both won CCS Championships last week.

Boys and girls golf teams win CCS Championships

by Vishnu Kannan, Co-Managing Editor • June 16, 2021

The boys and girls golf teams brought home CCS Championships last week on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. The boys scored 388, five strokes ahead of second-place Mitty, and the girls followed up the...

Arjun Virmani (12) fights with a defender for the basketball in the team’s match 50-44 victory against Crystal Springs on April 21. The team’s next match is against Sacred Heart at home at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

Weekly recap: Upper school sports teams continue to dominate their competition

by Vishnu Kannan, Co-Sports Editor • May 3, 2021

Soccer The varsity boys soccer team fell to King’s Academy in their season opener on April 20, but bounced back in a big way two days later, dominating Crystal Springs Uplands 6-0. This past week, the...

Olivia Guo (12) looks on after swinging at the golf ball during the team’s match against Notre-Dame Belmont. The Eagles won the match 210-297.

Weekly recap: Upper school sports drive ahead of competition

by Vishnu Kannan and Muthu Panchanatham • April 21, 2021

Volleyball Having finished their four game season, the varsity girls volleyball team achieved a 3-1 record, with three wins against Notre Dame, Castilleja and Mercy after suffering a loss in their first...

Natalie Vo (12) hits a tee shot with her driver during the girls golf team's victory against Notre Dame Belmont last Wednesday. The girls now have a record of 3-0, with three matches still left on their schedule.

Girls golf and girls tennis teams dominate in league, more sports to kick off soon

by Vishnu Kannan and Muthu Panchanatham • March 22, 2021

As COVID-19 cases continue to decline in Santa Clara County, a majority of Harker sports have been allowed to resume practice, and in some cases, competition. Sports seasons were initially scheduled to...

Jessica Zhou (10) prepares to hit a bunker shot at a practice round at Cinnabar Hills Golf Club last week. Following the upper school's safety protocols for athletes, players are required to wear masks and social distance at all times.

Spring sports kick off

by Anna Vazhaeparambil and Varsha Rammohan • March 1, 2021

Despite a delayed start to their seasons, due to the surge of COVID-19 cases in Santa Clara County during the winter, upper school athletes in cross country, football, girls golf and girls tennis are currently...

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