![“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 prepare for Spirit Week
Changes to class competitions include use of pool noodles for rally dances
Float or Sink: The freshman class works on building their raft. Spirit week starts April 14; events include dress-up days and daily class competitions.
Spirit week is fast approaching as the four grades prepare to contend for first place in the class competition.
Each class randomly selected two musical genres and a geographic location at a school meeting as the themes for their events. Along with the traditional events and dress up days that will take place, one key change has been made this year in regards to the regatta.
Pool noodles will replace duct tape this year as the material of choice for constructing the boats. Student Council has decided that the copious amounts of duct tape used in previous years were a waste of resources. With that in mind, different grades are adapting to the challenge differently.
Freshmen
Freshmen, who picked their dance themes last, are drawing on Oldies, Disco, and Australian traditions for choreography inspiration.
“Our theme lends itself to a very cohesive dance,” said freshman vice president Eddie Shiang, who is organizing the routine. “The freshman class is looking forward to spirit week because it’s a great opportunity for us to showcase our dance skills.”
After the regatta material change, the freshmen have decided to use zip-ties to secure the pool noodles to each other.
“We’re trying to use less building materials and more reusable items for construction,” said freshman spirit coordinator Haley Tran. “[This] will allow us to create a better model for future boats and let us better utilize resources.”
She continued to say that although winning would be nice, it’s not the objective.
“I’m just hoping my class feels united and enthusiastic for the coming week,” she said.
Sophmores
The 10th grade dance, which is being choreographed by class president Michael Zhao and Helena Dworak, draws on Disney and Indie styles of music, as well as the heritage of Russia. The sophomores are planning on having their first practice over spring break.
Edward Sheu, sophomore spirit coordinator, is excited about how reusable materials might make boat building easier in later years.
“Hopefully, the noodles will be passed down from class to class so that nothing is wasted,” he said.
As of Monday, the sophomores have not started work on their regatta. Still, Edward is confident that their enthusiasm is uncurbed. “We’ve got a lot planned and currently in the works, and I think we’re going to impress and do some work in this class competition.”
Juniors
Diana Moss, dean of the junior class, along with other members of the Harker community are glad that for the first time, Spirit Week is addressing environmental concerns.
“This year’s regatta is a move away from the wasteful use of hundreds of dollars of duct tape, that can’t be recycled in any way, so they have gone directly into landfill,” Moss said.
Junior spirit coordinator Aaron Huang is helping guide his class in its selected themes of Bollywood and Mariachi and geographical location of Africa.
“I feel that the theme this year is very good in that it promotes more diversity at Harker, and opens our eyes to all the different cultures we have here as well as those that we don’t,” Aaron said. “On one hand, the genres are pretty specific, and it is relatively easy to come up with dances, but on the other hand, their cultural specificity makes it a little restrictive in terms of the dance and creativity.”
Seniors
The senior class is tasked with the challenge of effectively incorporating its chosen themes of tribal, jazz, and Mexico.
“I like the ability to combine two different themes–geographical location and music genre- – to make some sort of creative mashup. I think our class can adapt to whatever comes our way,” said senior spirit coordinator Kenny Zhang.
As of Monday, the senior class plans to use rope and pool noodles to construct their boat.
“I personally liked the original duct tape regatta, but I understand that it wasn’t the most environmentally-friendly of spirit events,” Kenny said. “I still like the fact that we were able to keep the regatta, but just using different materials.”
Spirit Week is the week after spring break, and students are expected to support their class by dressing up and participating in the events that occur all through the week, including the dances, skit, powderpuff game, and regatta.
This piece was originally published in the pages of the Winged Post on April 4, 2014
Megy Appalaraju (12) is the Sports Editor of Harker Aquila. This is her second year in the Harker journalism program. Her favorite part about journalism...
Meilan Steimle (12) is co-Editor-in-Chief of the Winged Post. She was a reporter her freshman year, Winged Post Opinion Editor her sophomore year and Winged...