![“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)
Seniors graduate from certificate program at Senior Showcase
Ian Richardson (12) performs “Cry Me a River” by Arthur Hamilton at the 2014 Senior Showcase at the Mexican Heritage theater. This is his final number as a musical theater certificate student at the Upper School.
The senior certificate students shared their progress as performers from the past four years on Friday at the Mexican Heritage theater with the performing arts community.
Each of the graduates performed a piece from their respective disciplines: dance, vocal music, instrumental music, musical theater, theater, or technical theater. The technical theater graduate was a stage manager for this production, showcasing his skills as a backstage hand.
The dance certificate students included Anishka Agarwal (12), Pooja Chirala (12), Jennifer Dai (12), and Gaurav Kumar (12). The vocal music certificate students included Avinash Nayak (12) and Stephan Pellissier (12). The instrumental music certificate students included Meena Chetty (12), Callie Ding (12), Nathan Kim Dhablania (12), Krishan Kumar (12), Bohui Moon (12), Daniel Pak (12), Sahithya Maya Prakash (12), Renu Singh (12), Andrew Wang (12), and Justin Young (12). The musical theater certificate students included Shenel Ekici (12), Anna Kendall (12), Sean Knudsen (12), Ian Richardson (12), and Namrata Vakkalagadda (12). The theater certificate students included Damon Aitken (12).The technical theater certificate students included Nicholas Semenza (12).
The two emcees of the Senior Showcase, selected from the junior class, were Jai Ahuja (11) and Ishanya Anthapur (11).
Avinash sang “(Love is) The Tender Trap” written by Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn.
Gaurav choreographed a group dance to the song “Love the Pressure” by Sanjoy Deb featuring Neeraj K. His dance included students Ashir Bansal (11), Alexandar Lam (9), Emre Ezer (9), Varun Baldwa (9), Aditya Dhar (9), Neil Chitkara (11), and Chris Hildum (11).
Andrew performed “Blue Monk” by Theolonius Monk on trumpet.
Ian performed “Cry Me a River” written by Arthur Hamilton. He also choreographed a dance routine, performed by Caroline Howells (11) and Madeline Lang-Ree (11) to go along with his performance.
Damon, the only theater certificate student in the class of 2014, performed two different scenes from the same character, Shylock from The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare. His second scene involved Jai and Zoe Woehrmann (11).
At the end of the night, each certificate program student officially became a certificate program graduate as each were handed a plaque from their respective certificate advisor and all took a final bow as Upper School performing arts students.
Melina Nakos (12) is a reporter for The Winged Post. This is her third year as a part of the journalism program. She loves to spend time with the rest...