![“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 loses to Sequoia
Leeza Kuo (12) tries to block a player and strain her from throwing the ball. The Eagles lost the match 11-19.
The varsity girls’ lacrosse team lost to rival Sequoia, Friday on Davis Field, with a final score of 11-19. The team started off strongly, taking the lead 5-4, but fell behind afterwards.
During the game, Soo Eng, the mother of goalie Meilan Steimle (10), expressed her thoughts on the team’s progress during the first half of the game.
“They are very aggressive; [the players] are swarming, as they try to approach for scoring on the defensive side” Eng said. On the offensive side, we saw a great play bounce goal by Leeza Kuo. I’m very proud at how hard they have been working.”
The players also had positive outlooks on their loss.
After the game, Natasha Mayor (11) shared what she thought about the team’s performance about the performance of the Eagles throughout the game.
“We played really hard despite the heat,” Natasha said. “We definitely started out stronger than we finished. I think the heat really got to us, but towards the end of the game, I think we really pulled together as a team and our defense tightened up. Our offense was doing really well. So it could have gone better, but we played really well as a team”.
Andrew Irvine, the head coach, told us what he felt about the game.
“Sequoia is the top in the WBAL, or at least the Skyline Division. They joined our league this year. Historically, they’ve been a more competitive team, potentially because they have lacrosse earlier in their life. Here at Harker, you could play lacrosse in 9th grade, even if you don’t even know what a lacrosse stick looks like,” he said. “We have some players who’ve really taken it on and really enjoyed it and have started going to club and other players who have just played lacrosse here for the past four years. We had an okay start to the game and then things kind of degraded from there based upon our emotional response to losing. Even then, we still keep on fighting, and I love the lacrosse team, I think [that] they’re wonderful girls and we’ve got three big games coming up.”
The girls are ranked 4th in the league out of seven teams in the WBAL Skyline Division. The girls’ senior night will honor Leeza Kuo, Sabrina Sidhu, Allison Kiang and Priscilla Pan. It will take place on May 8 on Davis field at 4 p.m., with the seniors being honored prior to the match.
Sanjana Avula (9) is a reporter for The Winged Post. In her free time she enjoys biking, watching movies, and spending time with her family. Sanjana also...