The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila
Humans of Harker: Teaching through tendus
Humans of Harker: Teaching through tendus
“In every activity I do, there's always an element of making sure that my work can impact people. In what I've done, there are times when people question what I do or if what I'm doing is correct. For me, what is most important is that what I'm doing can have a tangible impact on someone else. As long as I believe that an impact can occur, then I want to do that regardless of what other people think," senior Valerie Li said.
Humans of Harker: Calling for change
“My favorite part is not even the content, just how all my family presented. I made a jeopardy one time about myself to see who knew me the best, and that was funny because I realized that they do pay attention more than I give them credit for. I appreciate my family more for that," senior Rithika Yamasani said.
Humans of Harker: Finding strength in connection
Humans of Harker: Data and dynamics
Humans of Harker: Data and dynamics
“Once people start lifting, they'll never be happy with how they look or how big their muscles are. It definitely makes them more self-conscious about how they look because a lot of people train for muscle size. Since I'm not trying to pursue lifting in college and it’s just for fun, I train for both. It's not exclusively one or the other," senior Jason Yi said.
Humans of Harker: Power through
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
“Moving to America, I was really scared in the beginning. It was like coming to an amusement park where there are a lot of people having a lot of fun, and then finding out that everyone is different from you. Academic challenges are easier to deal with, but making new friends—these kinds of things are more emotionally attached. I had to embrace the environment, and then the environment embraced me," Jessica Pan (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Turning barriers into stepping stones

by Helen Yang, Reporter • February 19, 2019

Standing in the cool January afternoon atmosphere, with her feet shoulder width apart and an easy smile on her face, Jessica Pan (12) exudes an aura of comfort and content. Whether it be moving to a new...

“You have to take risks in life, and they don’t always turn out the way you expect. Whether it be for the good or bad, it will guide you in making decisions the next time, and you will always grow as a person since there is always room for improvement," Shafieen Ibrahim (12) said.

Humans of Harker: The art of risk taking

by Eric Fang, News Editor • February 8, 2019

He leans forward in his seat, eyes focused on the glistening white chess pieces sitting before him. Now, perfectly still, his eyes dart to and from chess pieces, up and down the board, analyzing every...

“My life quote is from 'Up,' because I'm a giant Disney fan. It's ‘Adventure is out there.’ I love 'Up' because its message reinforces that adventure, friendship and excitement don't really have an age on it, so it always pushes me to do better because I realize that. Hopefully I'll be 80 years old, and I'll still be able to push myself,” Allison Cartee (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Reaching higher

by Emily Tan, Reporter • February 6, 2019

As the ball spins up into the air, Allison Cartee (12) bounces on her toes at the ten-foot line on the volleyball court as her long ponytail sways in front of the number 12 on the back of her jersey. She...

“[I feel best] when I see something that I either created or patched is pushed online, and I can start seeing the results coming off of it, making something positive. Even though nobody's directly benefiting, if I hadn't patched it and someone else was using it for some sketchy stuff, people are going to either get their identity stolen or get their email hacked. It's really just about creating a positive impact on the community, that's all that matters," Johnny Wang (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Life encoded

by Jessie Wang, Reporter • February 5, 2019

With his large, round glasses, slim frame and the intense, focused look in his eyes, it’s easy to imagine Johnny Wang (12) in a dark room, sitting at a desk and tapping away on his computer at 70 words...

“I know when to buckle down and do my work, but I also know to put time aside to just hang out with friends or family and live life. At the end of my sophomore year, I realized it’s all about finding your balance and not focusing on just one thing," Julia Amick (12) said.

Humans of Harker: “Work hard, play hard”

by Sabrina Takemoto, TALON Reporter • February 4, 2019

As captain of the Harker girls’ varsity soccer team and Business and PDA manager of the Talon yearbook, Julia Amick (12) can always be seen running around campus from one activity to the next. However,...

“Everyone has their own fears. For me, it's being alone on stage and having all the attention specifically on myself. I think the thing with fears, what's important, isn't that they are all going to go away, it's that you need to face your fears. You're going to feel afraid, you just need to do it anyways,” Jacob Kim (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Conquering fear

by Muthu Panchanatham • February 1, 2019

Eyes peering over the rocky precipice, he contemplated what the consequences of dropping from such a height would be. Jacob Kim (12) describes himself on top of a cliff in Hawaii, having known that the...

"I think that’s one of the most beautiful parts of dance—that you can be vulnerable internally and share that with a large number of people. You’re never alone, plus you’re showing that to an audience full of maybe a thousand people, and I think that speaks to how both external and internal dance is," Natasha Maniar (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Dancing through academia

by Gloria Zhu, Reporter • January 31, 2019

Natasha Maniar (12) is no stranger to science. She is the co-founder of Harker’s artificial intelligence club, bringing neural nets and periodic speaker events to the community. Her research with AI...

“I always tended to be an empathetic person. Even when someone's texting style changes, I can always tell if they're angry or sad. That sort of started when I started becoming better with my mental health. I started realizing when people around me are stressed. I wanted to cull that. I think everyone needs of extra support, and if I can be there for someone, then I should. I don’t think of it as a responsibility. I feel like its something as a person you should consider doing for others," Raphael Sanche (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Life without borders

by Gloria Zhang, Features Editor • January 29, 2019

When Raphael Sanche (12) was four or five years old, he joined the little kids swim class in New York. His first challenge was jumping down from the first diving podium. Enumerated by either fear of his...

“I like learning weird stuff about Shintoism and communism. No one is going to test me on that ever, but I still do it just because it's cool to know, it's fun to know, and currently I haven't explored myself enough to really know why I think it's fun. I'm not sure if I will [ever know], partially because I've stopped caring that that question is important. I've recognized that my love of China or East Asia and my interest in academia is just something ingrained in my person, and I don't think it's necessary to explore why that is because I know that it just is,” Logan Bhamidipaty (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Expectations and ideologies

by Sara Yen, Asst. Features Editor • January 28, 2019

What makes a leaf a leaf? How can you be sure that a green, organic structure hanging from a plant is indeed a leaf? On a rainy Friday afternoon in Dobbins, Logan Bhamidipaty (12) answers these questions...

“Everyone has goodness in them and happiness inside them but sometimes people don’t really see it, or the current stress and load of things that are bothering them is kind of blocking them from accessing that happiness. I think it’s important for people to realize in the midst of all this craziness there is a way for people to be happy, and once you are happy, you’re going to be more productive and more motivated," Nastya Sushkova (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Positivity from within

by Shreya Srinivasan, TALON Organizations and Co-Sports Editor • January 26, 2019

Sounds of uncontrollable laughter fill the air as Anastasiya “Nastya” Sushkova (12) chats with her friends while walking to her next class, using hand gestures to further give meaning to her stories....

“A really big part of the Armenian community is there's no such thing as I owe you one, you owe me one. It’s more like, 'We should be supporting each other. I’m doing this for you because I know that if I ever need help, you would do the same for me. Even though I may never need that help, I know that should I ever need it, you will be there. So I will be there for you now,'" Andrea Simonian (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Giving back

by Heidi Zhang, TALON Editor-in-chief • January 24, 2019

Dangling by a silver chain, a forget-me-not pendant—five violet petals decorated with yellow accents—adorns Andrea Simonian’s (12) neck. At first glance, the necklace may seem like just another accessory,...

“You can’t solve everything with STEM. I’m not going to save the world with STEM...You are not supposed to fight global warming by making an engineered device that will get rid of all the pollution or get rid of any chemical waste. You are supposed to pass policy, change the philosophy of the big companies that are causing all the pollution...That’s not something that science is going to fix. That’s humanities; it is humans,” Timothy Chang (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Creativity meets structure

by Saloni Shah, Asst. Humans of Harker Editor • January 23, 2019

Wearing formal business attire, Timothy “Timmy” Chang (12) stands confidently behind the podium. His eyes narrow with determination as he looks intently at a note passed by one of his teammates. One...

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