![LALC Vice President of External Affairs Raeanne Li (11) explains the International Phonetic Alphabet to attendees. "We decided to have more fun topics this year instead of just talking about the same things every year so our older members can also [enjoy],” Raeanne said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/DSC_4627-1200x795.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)
Upper School students to travel to Orlando for international business conference
Courtesy of Harker DECA
Manthra Panchapakesan (12) receives an award at ICDC 2014. This year, 28 Upper School students traveled to ICDC 2015 in Orlando, Florida.
Twenty-eight members of the Upper School’s DECA chapter will travel to Orlando, Florida to compete in the annual International Career Development Conference (ICDC) from April 25-28.
“ICDC is the culminating event for the DECA year,” Juston Glass, DECA advisor and director of Harker’s Business and Entrepreneurship program, said. “The cream of the crop come from all over the world, whatever their competitive event is, whether it’s finance, marketing, hospitality, tourism, business management, roleplays or the same categories within their written events.”
This year, three Upper School teams were announced as finalists in the Stock Market Challenge in January and will be recognized at ICDC. The team of David Lin (12) and Safia Khouja (12) has the highest total equity in the entire competition; the team of Aaron Huang (12), Steven Wang (12) and Leo Yu (12), and the team of Alex Tuharsky (12) and Ashwath Thirumalai (12), are also ranked in the top rung of the Western region.
DECA President Savi Joshi recounts her experiences as a member and officer as she reaches the end of an era.
“I always go in with the mindset, ‘Work hard. Expect nothing. Accept everything,’” Savi said. “I’m gonna cry; It’s hard to internalize that four years of putting your life into a chapter is coming to a close, but it’s also a good indication that it’s time to let go. It’s bittersweet, and I have full faith in [next year’s leadership] Sophia [Luo] (11) and Shannon [Hong] (11) to take Harker DECA to new heights of competitive success.”
DECA Director of Technology Alexis Gauba (10) reminisced about her first time attending ICDC last year as a freshman.
“We don’t just get to compete, we get to experience a city with many peers from all around the globe,” Alexis said. “I recall last year in Atlanta the streets were full of ICDC attendees and different groups would just shout across the street to others asking where they were from and making DECA diamonds.”
Harker winners at last year’s ICDC included Nihal Uppugunduri (’14) and Alex, who placed first in the the Stock Market Challenge; David Zhu (10) and Peter Wu (10), who placed fifth in the Virtual Business Challenge; Julia Fink (’14), who placed in the top 20 for Apparel and Accessories Marketing and Raymond Xu (10), who placed in the top 20 in Principles of Finance.
Additionally, out of approximately 20,000 participants in grades four to 12, Manthra Panchapakesan (12) was recognized for placing first statewide and third nationally in the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) InvestWrite essay contest.
Harker DECA’s events will come to a close with final banquet in May to recognize the members, and to thank parents and faculty for their support.
According to its website, DECA plans to host ICDC next year in Nashville, Tennessee, and in Anaheim, California, in 2017.
This piece was originally published in the pages of The Winged Post on April 22, 2015.
Praveen Batra (9) is a reporter for the Winged Post. He enjoys informative writing, design, and typography. In his spare time, he likes to write mobile...
Tara Parimi (12) is co-Editor-in-Chief of Harker Aquila, and this is her fourth year on staff. She has been involved with the upper school's journalism...