![“[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)
Ramsey Homsany, General Counsel for Dropbox Inc., spoke to students during long lunch today, addressing the challenges of becoming an attorney in Silicon Valley and answering questions about his occupation.
Homsany began by telling students about his background. When growing up, he imagined becoming a doctor or engineer, not a lawyer. Majoring in biochemistry, Homsany completed his undergraduate studies at Rutgers University and later received a law degree from New York University Law School. He then kicked off his career as an associate at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.
Homsany then joined Google in 2003 and became one of its long-serving lawyers. He was the deputy general counsel of the commercial group and managed 100 different internal lawyers who dealt with the company’s partnership and commercial relations. In 2011, Homsany resigned from Google and was the first lawyer hired by file sharing startup, Dropbox.
“[Dropbox] is another technology that is changing the world and making people’s lives easier. I wanted to be able to build something like [what I did at Google] again,” Homsany said regarding his decision to join Dropbox.
Dropbox Inc. is a file hosting service that offers cloud storage, file synchronization, and software for clients. It is available on most major platforms, such as Windows and Mac, and even mobile devices like iOS and Android devices.
Many students currently use it for a variety of purposes, whether it be for educational use of storing debate evidence or class presentations, or for personal storage of photos and videos.
“Dropbox is an amazing program because you can access your files from anywhere and on any device,” Zabin Bashar (10) said. “I no longer have to use a physical flash drive in order to transfer my files, making life much easier.”
After talking about the benefits of Dropbox, Homsany spent most of his time opening the floor for questions about his career and current job.
When asked about the employee hiring process, Homsany, who is also in charge of Human Resources at Dropbox, said that the company has stacks of resumes but only hires the “A+” people. An “A+” person, according to Homsany, does not necessarily mean the smartest person; rather it requires “intellectual flexibility, a humble attitude, and team spirit.”
Many students revealed that they learned a lot from Homsany’s insights and advice.
“I thought that Mr. Homsany’s talk was very informative and gave a unique inside perspective on not only his roles at Dropbox and Google, but also on the current legal climate of the tech industry as well,” Vikas Bhetanabhotla (11) said.
Homsany plans to stay at Dropbox for a long time as he says the company has many more innovative products in the pipeline.
![LALC Vice President of External Affairs Raeanne Li (11) explains the International Phonetic Alphabet to attendees. "We decided to have more fun topics this year instead of just talking about the same things every year so our older members can also [enjoy],” Raeanne said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/DSC_4627-1200x795.jpg)
