![“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)
Dress code changes affect student wardrobe choices
Alexander Lam (11), Rishabh Gargeya (11), and Sandip Nirmel (11) all sport dress code appropriate outfits. Plain t-shirts are allowed to be worn.
After many concerns last year about dress length and other tenets of the dress code, the administration and Dress Code Committee consisting of students, faculty and parents addressed these issues by finalizing an amended dress code that was put into action near the end of the last academic year. The new dress code states among other rules that dresses must follow the fingertip rule in terms of length, non-collared shirts can be worn and only university logos or Harker-approved logos are allowed on clothing. As a result of these changes, some students made changes in their wardrobe choices for the upcoming school year.
Chris Hailey (11)
“I have fewer things to choose from, like I can’t wear multicolored clothes much because I feel like I’m limited by what the dress code says. I have a bunch of these hippie shirts at home, but I feel like I can’t wear those to school because they are not part of the dress code.”
Haley Keller (10)
“I do really like the new dress code; instead of having two inches above the knee, the length of your arms does allow you to have more [freedom]. I know that my brother really likes having the no collar rule too, so I think that it’s benefited the students a lot so far.”
Lucas Wang (11)
“It has actually affected it a lot. You know, because I can’t wear my collared shirts anymore because then people are going to judge me like ‘Dude, why are you wearing a collared shirt still, we don’t need to wear that anymore,’ but then it gets to the point of my non-collared shirts aren’t dress code approved, like I don’t have any non-logo shirts or strictly college shirts. I have two of them, my Stanford one and my Wharton one. I’ve been alternating throughout the week.”
Wynter Chaverst (9)
“Well, I actually don’t really like the dress code because I had to eliminate some of the items I wore, but I learned that when I did, I dressed a lot neater and a lot nicer.”
While some students acknowledged that the dress code has changed significantly, they also noted that it did not directly affect what they wore to school.
Sana Aladin (11)
“Not much. I think most of my stuff kind of goes with the dress code. I haven’t worn anything different than what was there in the previous dress code. It seems to be working fine for now.”
Ethan Grammer (10)
“I’m actually new here this year, so I haven’t really experienced the old dress code. I mean, it hasn’t really been that much of a change for me, at least.”
Kevin Hu (12)
“It honestly doesn’t matter to me that much. Honestly, only so few administrators enforce it that it’s not worth changing my wardrobe for.”
Adriano Hernandez (10)
“They really haven’t changed anything. I think it just frees up more choices, but really in general, there hasn’t been too much change.”
Kshithija “KJ” Mulam (12) is the Winged Post Editor-in-Chief. Serving as the Winged Post News Editor in her junior year, Winged Post Photo Editor in...