![“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 water polo loses to Homestead
Sarah Gonzales (11) winds up to pass. Varsity girls water polo went on to lose 2-10 to Homestead.
Varsity girls water polo lost 2-10 to Homestead in a non-conference home game today at 4:30 p.m.
The team was losing 2-3 at the end of the second quarter, but Homestead widened its lead with the additional seven goals in the last two quarters.
The girls are currently 0-2 in the league after losses to Fremont and Monta Vista in conference games last week.
After the game, freshman Claudia Opris commented on how today’s game compared to earlier ones in the season.
“Our defense was better than some of our last games, and I think overall it was a lot easier to play against,” she said. “I hope to work on our offense and take more shots and not just draw a foul every time we get the ball.”
Helena Dworak (12), one of the team captains, echoed that sentiment.
“I thought it was the best so far. Our defense has improved a lot,” Helena said. “Our offense is getting better, but that still needs improvement.”
Homestead is currently 1-0 in the league and 3-5 overall, according to MaxPreps.
“I think that was a good game overall,” senior Elizabeth Song, captain of Homestead’s team, said. “We worked on spreading out as a team in the pool, so we’re not all bunched up, and I think it was a good game and we really accomplished our goals.”
Homestead’s team’s other captain, Medini Rastogi (12), talked about the team’s transition into the new season.
“I think there’s still a lot of stuff that we need to work on since the beginning of the season, and we’re still kind of getting used to working together as a team against teams of different levels, so work in progress,” she said.
Helena also talked about Harker’s transition to a new year, commenting that after losing last year’s seniors, the team’s underclassmen outnumber upperclassmen.
“A lot of the seniors that played last year — I think we had four or five — had played since middle school, so they were some of our stronger players,” she said. “Now, we have [five] upperclassmen so it’s a very, very young team, so we definitely need a lot of improvement, but there’s room for growth.”
Junior varsity boys water polo started warm-ups during the girls game and started playing Homestead at 5:45 p.m., with varsity boys water polo playing at 6:45 p.m.
Varsity girls have an away game against Cupertino on Thursday at 6:45 p.m. and will play in the Watsonville High School Girls Water Polo Tournament this Saturday.
Sahana Srinivasan (12) is the Editor-in-Chief of the Winged Post and Wingspan, having previously served as Managing Editor, Asst. STEM Editor and a reporter....