![“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 exhibit features work from greatest number students ever
The AP Studio Art (APSA) exhibit featured a collection of artworks from the largest group of APSA students ever, taking place in Nichols Hall yesterday during long lunch.
The artworks of 23 students represented the approximate halfway point of their work on their concentration portfolio for the APSA exam in April. Concentrations include 2D, 3D and drawing. Each artist’s portfolio will ultimately contain twelve pieces, and at this point, the featured artists have around six pieces finished, according to fine arts teacher Pilar Aguero-Esparza.
“We like to do an exhibit because it’s a really good opportunity for them to put up their work and to write their artist statement and put it down on paper,” she said. “For some artists, it’s very difficult to do. Some struggle with writing. Some have more of a facility with writing and for those who do not, it can be a little daunting. This is a dry run; besides having the half of the series, they also need to have their concentration idea.”
Students, faculty and parents received the opportunity to pace the upper and lower levels of Nichols Hall to see work from APSA students. Drawing students include Hannah Bollar (12), Doreene Kang (11), Kevin Ke (11), Sheryl Liu (12), Sophia Luo (11), Archana Podury (12), Kelly Wang (12), Rachel Wu (12) and Jessica Yang (12). 2D art students include Avni Barman (12), Emma Doherty (11), Matthew Ho (12), Jeffrey Hsu (12), Ramzi Jahshan (12), Shay Lari-Hosain (11) and Madelyn Wang (12). 3D art students include Christina Andrus (12), Eric Cheung (12), Craig Neubieser (12), Shannon Richardson (11), Nephele Troullinous (12) and Eric Wang (12).
The range of works featured included mixed-media art, photography, paintings, drawings and photography cut-outs.
Photography teacher Joshua Martinez commented on the differences in process between the “wet-media” students and the digital media students.
“While students working in more traditional mediums accumulate works slowly, the digital process is that of refinement and replacement: my students create a base portfolio and then gradually add and subtract works to refine it conceptually,” he said. “The output of the works happens towards the very end.”
Featured APSA students also discussed the exhibition of their artwork.
In previous years, the number of students featured in the exhibition have been around 12 to 14, making this year a record year for APSA classes. In the past, APSA exhibitions have filled only one floor of Nichols Hall, but this year both the lower and upper floors have artworks featured within.
Martinez emphasized the importance of the exhibition for the student artists, as the visible “edge” of their underlying concept links the works and leads them to think about sequencing, titles, and writing statements.
The poster advertising the exhibition was designed by Ramzi.
Elisabeth Siegel (12) is the editor-in-chief of the Winged Post. This is her fourth year in Journalism, and she especially loves production nights and...