![“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)
Students gathered in the Faculty Dining Room today during both lunch periods to attend the Engineering Career Panel.
The second one so far this year, the Career Panel organized by Jennifer Hargreaves, Director of Middle and Upper School Volunteer Programs, and senior Sarina Vij is meant to assist students in their process of choosing the right career path.
This Career Panel included a variety of parents who have background and experience in the field of engineering. Gautham Nadathur, system designer at Apple; Maria Gong, lead recruiter at Google; and Rajiv Batra, Founder and Senior Vice President of Engineering at Palo Alto Networks, spent their lunch speaking about the engineering field and answering questions based on their involvement.
Many students came to the panel for various reasons and hoped that listening to professional engineers talk about their pasts would be useful.
“I just wanted to hear from real engineers what their life is like and what they think the best choice is to do in today’s world,” Madhavan Nair (10) said.
The panel started off with the panelists introducing themselves and briefly describing what they do followed by a question from Hargreaves regarding the best and worst aspects of their career. While Gong believes that one of the best features is the amount of opportunities, she thinks that the worst can be unexpected change. Nadathur agrees the best part is that one is not tied down to a specific project or job; for him, however, the worst part is the interviews whenever switching jobs.
After the panelists’ speech, the floor was open for students to ask questions. Topics discussed included what kept them going despite that writing code for a program can be at times dull, how working at a startup is different from working at companies like Google and Apple, if coding is helpful in other science fields, and when is the right time to start programming.
Both Nadathur and Gong expressed that it is never too late to start coding.
“It’s always important to have a good foundation […] so that you have the option to go into that path,” Gong said.
Several students found this Career Panel helpful as it provided insight from experienced individuals in the field.
“I thought it was good cause. I got to learn from people who are actually engineers and they have a lot of experience,” Ethan Ma (10) said.
The panelists closed the session by advising students to pay more attention to what they are learning in college because they never know when that information will be useful, to learn the basics and building blocks of programming, and to stay curious about what they are interested in.
