![“I wasn't discouraged by some of the obstacles we faced. I learned a lot from the leadership. I found that different people need different ways of receiving feedback — you can't [just] tell them to do something and expect the best. [Some] people needed more incentive. A large part of my role was to figure out what worked for everyone and to figure out how to lead all these separate individuals as a team,” Suhana Bhandare (’26) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/SuhanaBhandare_JasmineHansra-1-1200x798.jpg)
![“This is actually from Randy Pausch Randy P. Brick: ‘Walls are there for a reason. You have to show how much you want to overcome them.’ You have to show how much you want something. That's what I've always been able to do with tennis, Link Crew and getting that internship [with Kushy Baby]. It’s important pushing through that — getting around that brick wall, climbing over it or clawing through it,” Yash Sachdeva (’26) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/YashSachdeva_RamBatchu-copy-1200x1002.jpg)
![“[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.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DSC_8149-900x604.jpg)
![“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.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-25-at-9.50.05-AM-900x594.png)
![“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.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Screen-Shot-2017-06-03-at-4.54.16-PM.png)
![“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.”](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/DSC5146-900x601.jpg)
![“[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.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AnnaGert_JinTuan_HoHPhotoEdited-600x900.jpeg)
![“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.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AlyssaHuang_EmilyChen_HoHPhoto-900x749.jpeg)
I distinctly remember when my family watched the movie 2012 together in 2009.
We arrived late to the packed movie theater, and most of the seats were already filled. That meant I had to sit away from my parents in the front corner of the theater, next to a slightly pudgy man with a thick Texan accent. Due to the mild trauma of this experience, every detail of the movie was engraved into my mind.
I spent the next week looking for “surface cracks” in the ground, stalking my neighborhood for signs of impending mega-earthquakes. I blame my paranoia on my excessively high-strung analytical mind and a lack of a physical outlet. And my fear of, you know, the world ending.
In all seriousness, to my 12-year-old mind, an apocalypse seemed like a romantic abstraction in the distant future that served as a test of character. It would allow me to examine exactly how people reacted when they knew they had only minutes left with their loved ones.
Would my parents be the ones to hijack a jumbo jet from a disintegrating Las Vegas to save my sister and myself by taking to the air? Or would I be the brave lass who leaped over cracks in the earth to reach my family trapped in a flaming building? Or maybe my family would be one of those who foolishly disregarded all of the signs of impending doom and sealed its own gruesome fate.
I know, morbid thoughts for a preteen. I mean, I never really believed in an apocalypse; I was 99.9999 percent sure that the world just seemed too solid to come to a spectacularly sudden ending. It was just entertaining to think about that other ten thousandth percent, specifically all the possibilities it entailed.
Maybe it was a personality-building exercise. Would I be the weak link, the coward in the corner who prevented us from taking initiative and saving our lives in a spectacular airborne escape? I sincerely hoped not.
So, in reality, I have conspiracy theorists to thank for my sparkling integrity and courage.
As we all know, the world didn’t exactly end on December 21. But our misunderstanding of the Mayan calendar did make for some good television. And while I sat curled up in front of my television yesterday, watching Countdown to Apocalypse on the History Channel, I asked myself if I was satisfied enough with where I was in my life to die happy.
If I was to die at that very moment, I wouldn’t be very happy with my last words (“Can you get me some orange juice”). I wouldn’t be happy with my last day (watching crackpots on the History Channel) or my last meal (peanut butter cups) or my last workout (never). And I wouldn’t be completely happy with the person I was. My soul-searching revealed a mixed bag of character traits.
But why does it take an apocalypse to make us examine ourselves? Take periodic moments to check yourself. My New Year’s resolution last year was to make sure I was happy with the last thing I said to my mom before I went to sleep. I abandoned it subconsciously after about three months, but I’m looking forward to continuing it in 2013. Provided that there aren’t any apocalyptical interruptions, of course.
