![“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)
Peace, Love, Dance
Using costumes, music, and moves, 119 dancers expressed their own visions of Peace, Love, and Dance in this year’s dance production this past Friday and Saturday.
The dances were mainly choreographed by teachers, Amalia De La Rosa and Karl Kuehn. Additionally, five guest choreographers and five students taking choreography class helped choreograph the dances.
Varsity and Junior Varsity dance troupe dancers, Noel Banerjee (11), Jennifer Dai (12), Tamlyn Doll (9), Helena Dworak (10), Hazal Gurcan (9), Darby Millard (11), LeAnn Nguyen (9), Erika Olsen (11), Emily Pan (10), Kristen Park (10), Surabhi Rao (9), Vasudha Rengarajan (11), Sindhu Ravuri (11), Ankita Sharma (10), Noor Singh (9), Madison Tomihiro (10), Lindsey Trinh (9), Jacqui Villarreal (11), and Allison Wang (10) opened the show with “Just Dance,” “Come Together,” and “Somebody to Love,” setting the mood with a mixture of the production’s three themes.
The routine was then followed by the “Peace” segment featuring a tap dance and a faculty dance. Pilar Aguero-Esparza, Juston Glass, Susan King, Diane Maine, Daniela Rozanes, and Bradley Stoll donned loose-fitting tops, flared pants, and wigs to enhance their hippie images while grooving to the upbeat tune of The Swinging Blue Jeans’ “Hippie Hippie Shake”.
The next dances highlighted “Love” and among them was “Coin-Operated Boy,” a toy-doll themed couple dance choreographed by Karl Kuehn. The girls were dressed in babydoll dresses and giant hair bows, while the boys sported polo shirts and bowties.
“[My favorite part was] ‘Coin-Operated Boy’ [because] it had a storyline to go along with and it added entertainment to the dance,” Matthew Huang (11) said.
The final segment of the show was “Dance,” which focused on the beauty of dance with routines ranging from hip-hop to lyrical. Donning a performed a dark, ballet solo to Clint Mansell’s “Lux Aeterna.”
“My favorite part was the ballet solo cause it was really good and different compared to the other dances,” Srivarsha Gulukota (10) said.
The show ended with the finale in which the entire cast performed a jazz routine to Global Deejay’s, “The Sound of San Francisco.”
The dance show was not only enjoyable to the audience, but also a fun experience for the performers.
“it was hands down, one of the greatest experiences of my life,” Andrew Kim (10) said. “I regret not doing it last year because I probably missed so much.”
Daphne Liang is a reporter for TALON Yearbook. She is a sophomore and has been a part of the journalism program since her freshman year. Daphne is also...
Shannon Su is the Managing Editor and Executive News Director of Harker Aquila. She joined the program as a reporter her freshman year and has held many...
Juhi Gupta is the Multimedia Editor for Harker Aquila. She is a junior and has been part of the journalism program since her freshman year. Her position...