![“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)
Varsity girls’ lacrosse cradles their efforts to victory against Santa Catalina
Priscilla Pan (12) cradles the the ball during Varsity Lacrosse’s game against Santa Catalina. They won 20-5.
With refreshing Gatorade and victory in their sight, the Upper School varsity girls’ lacrosse team fought against the pre-summer heat and won against the Catalina Cougars April 29.
The first half ended with a score of 14-3, Eagles in the lead, followed by another five points during the second half for a final score of 20-5.
Hannah Bollar (12) scored six goals, and Natasha Mayor (11) and Leeza Kuo (12) both scored three goals.
Head Coach Andrew Irvine attributed the progress of the team to its improvements in team bonding.
“We’ve had some ups and downs more recently, but we’ve come to a new understanding and equilibrium,” Irvine said. “Last Friday, we played Notre Dame; we did lose by one point, but it was an amazing second half where we all kind of came to a nice place and we gelled as a team.”
Assistant coach Brooke Betts also talked about watching the younger players develop their skills and commended the leadership for that.
“Just recently being at the varsity level, there’s been great leadership so I’ve seen the girls progress a lot in spirit, confidence and all that kind of stuff throughout the season,” Betts said.
Hannah Bollar (12), who was one of the captains both this year and last year expressed the increased responsibilities one has that comes with the leadership title.
“The only difference is the title and the responsibility because it’s a more of a how much people pay attention to you and how much you have to do for the team,” she said. “So as captain, I have to make sure everybody’s there, and I have to start practice.”
Priyanka Taneja (10), who plays defense on the team, also brought up the importance of team bonding for their team.
“We’ve had some team bonding experiences. We went ice skating, we went to the counter once, we watched Cinderella together,” she said. “We have nicknames from the movie now. One person on our team is Cinderella, one person on the team is Gus Gus (she is), Meilan [Steimle] (10) is the prince.”
The next varsity girls’ lacrosse game will be at home on May 1 against Sequoia High School.
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...
Emma Yu (9) is a reporter for The Winged Post. In her free time, she usually draws, surfs the internet, and hopes for no tests in the upcoming weeks of...