![“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)
AP Studio Art students take field trip to Alcatraz Island
Students from AP Studio Art drawing, 2D, photography and 3D visited Alcatraz Island on Wednesday, Nov. 19 for an exhibit by artist Ai WeiWei.
The students took a ferry to the island and went on a walking tour of the @Large: Ai WeiWei on Alcatraz exhibition. They visited different large-scale works of art in the New Industries building, a group of cells in A Block, the hospital and the dining Hall. The exhibition questions freedom of expression and human rights.
Art teacher Pilar Aguero Aguero-Esparza decided to bring the students to the Alcatraz exhibit because of its uniqueness.
“Ai WeiWei is just a terrific internationally known artist, whose political work is very timely both internationally and in this country and I think the exhibit at Alcatraz Island is so unique to have an artist of his stature be able to look at that space and its very relevant to the type of work that he does, the type of issues that he works with, so its such a good combination to be able to utilize the power of that space and then see how he can incorporate some of his specific ideas in the setting to create his works,” Aguero-Esparza said.
For the students, it was a break from the traditional forms of art they had been used to seeing.
“It was interesting to see art with the sole purpose of promoting freedom of expression and human rights, whereas other art [is] simply meant to look pleasing,” Kevin Ke (11) said.
Sophia Luo (11) especially liked the lego exhibit. It was one of the first exhibits the students viewed, and consisted of a floor covered in lego pieces put to together to resemble various faces of peaceful protesters from around the world who were suppressed by their respective governments.
“I became more aware of the struggle for human rights. I think it was very enlightening,” Sophia said.
The location in which the artist chose for his artwork factored into its impact.
“The work was presented in an environment which brought out a more meaningful context through the association between political belief and imprisonment,” Eric Cheung (12) said.
For senior Archana Podury, her favorite part was the tour of the actual prison facility and she ended up reading a lot about Alcatraz and its history after the trip.
Archana also thought that the exhibits were not anything like what she had imagined it to be. For two of the pieces, there were so many elements going on that she felt like she missed a lot of the detail work. Overall, she thought that exhibits were very thought provoking.
“It kind of makes me question the simplistic things I’m drawing now… maybe I should try out different media and take bigger leaps in the concepts that I draw!” Archana said.
The weather also played a significant role in the trip as it rained throughout the students time on the island making it hard for the photography students to keep their cameras dry.
The students returned to San Francisco by ferry and arrived back on campus around 3:30 p.m.
Cheryl Liu is an assistant photo editor of TALON yearbook. She is a junior and has been part of the journalism program since her freshman year. Her favorite...