![“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)
The Speech and Debate team has faced success over the past few months with students collecting awards from various tournaments. The team now prepares to host the Howard and Diana Nichols Invitational Tournament on March 4-6.
At the University of California Berkeley tournament, the debate team placed ninth out of around 210 schools nationwide. 132 Middle and Upper School debaters attended the tournament, and many earned awards. For Public Forum Debate, the team of Aneesh Chona (10) and Anuj Sharma (10) were named co-champions of the tournament, while the team of Akshay Jagadeesh (11) and Rohan Bopardikar (11) reached semi-finals (top 4).
Meanwhile, Roshni Bhatnagar (12) reached the quarterfinals (top 8) for Lincoln-Douglas Debate; in Congressional Debate, Warren Zhang (10), Michael Tsai (12), and Muralikrishna Joshi (11) advanced to semifinals (top 70) while Kathir Sundarraj (10) reached the finals (top 20). James Seifert (12) won the championship for Dramatic Interpretation and reached semifinals for Original Oratory (top 14).
“It was extremely fulfilling to finally have gotten to such a high stage in the tournament,” Kathir said. “Ultimately [our success] just shows how awesome our debate program is and how awesome our coaches are.”
Several students have even qualified for the Tournament of Champions (TOC) in May. Debaters consider TOC as the most prominent high school debate tournament, for which students must earn at least two bids from TOC qualifying tournaments in order to attend. Anuj and Aneesh, Akshay and Rohan, Aakash Jagadeesh (11) and Frederic Enea (11), Ziad Jawadi (12) and Reyhan Kader (10), and Katherine Paseman (9) and Stephanie Lu (9) are the five Public Forum teams that qualified. Roshni qualified for Lincoln-Douglas Debate while Michael and Warren earned spots at the TOC for Congressional Debate. They will be travelling to the University of Kentucky on the first weekend of May to compete hundreds of other students from around the nation.
“[Qualifying for TOC] feels good because you know you are competing with the best of the best all over the country, and it’s an honor to be going,” Reyhan said.
Aneesh, who qualified for last year’s TOC with his partner Anuj, still feels the excitement of qualifying for the TOC and looks forward to attending the tournament again with hopes of finishing at a higher round.
“[The TOC] was honestly the best experience I have had in debate,” said Aneesh. “When Anuj and I became the first team to fully qualify for the 2010-2011 season in November, I felt satisfied. I am looking forward to the TOC this spring and the challenge it will entail.”
The teams’ spots in the TOC can be credited to not only individual determination and effective mentorship but also support from fellow debaters and partners.
“Katherine is one of the main reasons I have done so well. We work very well together as a team,” Stephanie said of her Public Forum partner. “And the rest of the debate team, especially junior and senior debaters who have been extremely successful, have given me advice on not only how to do better in rounds but to manage debate as a whole as well.”
The qualifying teams continue to hone their skills at other tournaments as they await the release of the TOC debate topics.
Meanwhile, the Speech and Debate coaches continue to arrange for the Nichols Invitational Tournament, which will be hosted at the Upper School campus.
“One reason we host the tournament is to give back to the speech and debate committee,” said Jonathan Peele, Debate Coach of Congressional Debate and Independent Events. “Other schools host us all year long, so we want to have our friends over for a weekend.”
The debate coaches are expecting around 300 debaters to attend this national tournament.
