![“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)
Sophomores reported to the atrium today at the beginning of long lunch to hear the remainder of their class council election speeches.
Many candidates sought to make their speeches more engaging and unique by incorporating elements such as creative metaphors, household objects, and pop culture references. Vice presidential candidate Vivian Isenberg (10) chose to sport various hats during her speech in order to symbolize the various roles in the job description.
“I wanted to do something sort of memorable and divert from the more common serious speech,” Vivian said.
Presidential candidate Savi Joshi (10)’s metaphor about the widely popular television show Suits was another example of the out-of-the-box speeches presented.
“Just like Mike, I was searching for my place in such a diverse community and perhaps was less qualified than my other competitors. So why choose me? The same reason Harvey chose Mike. Because Harvey saw himself in Mike,” Savi said during her speech.
Most sophomores thought that the speeches were very impactful and addressed key points.
“They all, every single one, spoke about their agendas and plans and I think they went really well,” Reena Sandhu (10) said.
Though many candidates were enthusiastic about their speeches, some felt that a few speeches were exceedingly lengthy and could have been summarized in a more concise fashion.
“It’s difficult to do that when you’re a candidate because you want to convey your message and what you want to do, but when you hear 20 candidates it starts to get repetitive,” class dean Diana Moss said.
Some candidates believed that presenting their speeches during lunch hindered the attentiveness of students.
“I definitely think we had a disadvantage because everyone was hungry and wanted to go to lunch,” vice presidential candidate Nikita Mittal (10) said.
Other students felt that the timing of speeches was not much of a hassle.
“It wasn’t that inconvenient; […] everyone could deal with it and the Powder Puff afterwards made up for it because it was fun,” Nicholas Nguyen (10) said.
Candidates for president are Savi, Ajay Chitkara, Sarah Bean, Julia Eliovich, and Ryan Pachauri; Alex Jang, Nikita, Shiki Dixit, Vivian, Fred Chang, Ashwini Iyer and Ethan Ma for vice president; Azhar Huda and David Lin for treasurer; Suraya Shivji, Anokhi Saklecha, Ransher Dhaliwal, and Rahul Jayaraman for secretary; and Riya Godbole, Aaron Huang, and Nathan Dalal for spirit representative.
Voting will take place tomorrow during both lunches.
