The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila
Humans of Harker: Pirouettes meet practicality 
Humans of Harker: Pirouettes meet practicality 
“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: 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
When selecting courses, aim for a mix of rigor and personal interest. Find a balance that allows you to thrive.

Navigating course selection at Harker: Advice for rising sophomores, juniors and seniors

by Disha Gupta, A&E/Lifestyle Editor • February 7, 2025

Choosing the right courses at Harker is a high-stakes balancing act. Each year of high school presents its unique opportunities and challenges, and it’s crucial to strategize wisely. There is a delicate...

Upper school nurse Jennifer Olson handles a COVID test kit on April 23. All seventh and 10th-graders will receive a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test this Friday, Oct. 15.

BREAKING: 10th and 7th-grader test positive for COVID-19, both grades to undergo testing on Friday

by Lucy Ge and Alysa Suleiman • October 12, 2021

This is a developing story. Check Harker Aquila for future updates. A 10th-grader and a seventh-grader tested positive for COVID-19, according to emails sent from Harker Director of Health Services...

Maddie Hansen (10) converses with her Eagle Buddy over a lunch of burgers and chips on the Bucknall field. The class of 2022 traveled to the Bucknall campus to meet their Eagle Buddies for the first time yesterday.

LIFE, Eagle Buddy events build healthy lifestyle, community for students

by Kathy Fang and Irene Yuan • October 22, 2019

Upper school students engaged in a variety of LIFE and Eagle Buddies activities yesterday, kicking off this year's LIFE and Eagle Buddies program. Freshmen participated in a course planning activity with...

Secretary Helen Li (10) enjoys a cone of Dippin Dots as she waits for students to stop by and purchase some ice cream. By the end of lunch, the students sold out of everything but the Rainbow and Banana Split flavors.

Sophomore class holds Dippin’ Dots fundraiser

by Arushi Saxena, Global Editor • May 24, 2019

The sophomore class held a Dippin' Dots fundraiser on yesterday during lunch, raising $535 over the course of long lunch. The goal was $2021. They ended with a total budget of $2162, allowing them to...

Grace Hajjar (11) waves the 2020 class flag in support of her fellow juniors. The juniors lost the volleyball game to the seniors, who went on to participate in the student-faculty volleyball game.

In pictures: Spirit Week one day at a time

by Nina Gee, Visual Editor • April 17, 2019

Monday: This year's spirit week kicked off with Movie/Music Day, where students dressed up as characters from their favorite movies or wore merch from their favorite artists. The school saw costumes ranging...

Kelsey Wu (12) waves the senior class flag while Karen Krause (12), Sahana Narayan (12) and Shania Wang (12) cheer to her left. The seniors earned the most spirit points this year.

Harker heats up for spirit week

by Emily Tan, Reporter • April 14, 2019

For members of the upper school community, the five days after spring break ended weren’t just any few days: it was spirit week, which meant over-the-top costumes, class competitions nearly every day,...

Kai Burich (9) opens the freshman class Roar, marching into the gym while playing a large wind instrument. The freshman class placed fourth in the Roar event, behind the juniors, who placed third, the sophomores, who placed second, and the seniors, who placed first.

Students make some noise during 1st annual ROAR

by Emily Tan, Reporter • April 11, 2019

The entire school, dressed in different themes by advisory, gathered in the Athletic Center at 9:35 this morning to watch the roar competition, as well as the volleyball championship game between the juniors...

Cheerleaders leap in the air during their routine. After their performance, the classes competed in a scream-off.

Homecoming 2018: Spirit rally in pictures

by Irina Malyugina, Kathy Fang, and Nicole Chen • October 6, 2018

Upper school students and faculty celebrated homecoming with the annual spirit rally last Friday, during which student and faculty members of each class participated in a variety of spirit events, ranging...

Theater candidate Nicky Kriplani (10) performs a monologue from Eugene O’Neill’s play “Long Day’s Journey into Night” for his jury performance. Sophomore Certificate candidates are required to perform a two minute piece for a panel of Conservatory teachers.

Certificate candidates perform at sophomore juries

by Kathy Fang, Managing Editor • September 20, 2018

Certificate candidates performed at sophomore juries in the Patil Theater today at lunch and after school as a part of their Certificate requirements. Students were asked to prepare a short piece of under...

Christina Bettink (11) studies in the library. If you prefer quiet locations, the library is a great place to study during free periods, lunch or office hours.

Your how-to guide to high school

by Gloria Zhang and Sara Yen • September 14, 2018

Freshmen: Whether you’re a lifer or new to Harker, you are still experiencing a fresh start at a new campus and transitioning into high school. Although the cafeteria lines seem endless and the classes...

High up in the treetops, a member of the class of 2021 grips a rope for support during the sophomores’ ropes course trip in the Santa Cruz Mountains on Aug. 23. The classes of 2020 and 2021 participated in off-campus trips on Aug. 23.

Sophomores and juniors enjoy ropes course, rafting to start the new year

by Kathy Fang and Ryan Guan • August 31, 2018

Juniors whitewater raft The class of 2020 traveled to OARS American River Output in Coloma, California, for the annual junior class rafting trip on Aug. 23. Students split into groups of six to eight...

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