![“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)
Debaters prepare for Tournament of Champions at the University of Kentucky
Eesha Chona (11), David Jin (11), Abhinav Ketineni (11) and Jasmine Liu (11) prepare for the Public Forum TOC by holding a practice debate outside Manzanita.
Nineteen members of Upper School Speech and Debate have been chosen to participate in the Tournament of Champions (TOC) on April 25 at the University of Kentucky.
A national invitational, the TOC is only open to debaters or debate teams that have reached higher rounds in at least two other national circuit tournaments.
According to Carol Green, the Public Forum (PF) and Congressional Debate (CD) coach, qualifying for the tournament is its own accomplishment.
“These debaters debate all school year to qualify and then to compete,” Green said. “For many students around the country, they will work all four years of high school and never qualify.”
This year, the Upper School debate program had one debater in Lincoln-Douglas (LD), one speaker in Extemporaneous Speaking, one team in Policy, three debaters in CD and six teams in PF qualify.
Pranav Reddy (12), the only debater to be invited for LD and the recent National LD Debate champion at the National Debate Coaches Association tournament at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, is especially anxious for this year’s TOC.
“I went last year and I qualified my sophomore year too,” Pranav said. “I’m nervous because it’s my last time and there’s a lot of hope that I’ll do well. I’ve been preparing for awhile so it’s [been] a lot of writing.”
David Jin (11), a first time TOC participant, summed up the competition as one of the toughest PF debate tournaments of the year.
“It’s the top competition because it’s an invite-only [tournament],” David said. “So you will be seeing the best debaters, regardless of grade.”
This piece was originally published in the pages of The Winged Post on April 22, 2015.
Aditya Varshney (12) is the opinion editor of Harker Aquila and the Winged Post. This is his second year on staff. During his junior year, he occupied...
Ashley Jiang (11) is the photo editor for Winged Post. This is her third year in the journalism program, and she was a reporter her freshman and sophomore...