![“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)
Sophomores attend LIFE session on abusive relationships
Students show the red side of their cards to answer no to a question asked by the Piece-It-Together presenters in the Nichols Auditorium. The presenters used a variety of techniques to explain abusive relationships and how to deal with them.
March 11, 2016
Sophomores attended a LIFE session presented by Piece-It-Together, a local counseling agency, which discussed abusive relationships and how to deal with them, today in the Nichols auditorium.
Piece-It-Together is a nonprofit organization whose purpose is to support youth in troubled circumstances with issues relating to mental health. Kristin Smith, Tri Dinh and Jessica Ballin, outreach coordinators at Piece-It-Together gave a presentation on abusive relationships through skits, demonstrations and interactive questions.
“Some think that teen dating violence or dating violence is just about being physical with somebody, but actually it is more about manipulating someone and emotionally injuring them so that they can tear the other person down and control them,” Smith said.
The four types of abuse explained included physical, emotional, sexual and digital abuse. The presenters went through the ten different tactics in relationships used to gain power and control over the other partner. They discussed how one member of a relationship could use social status, isolation, economic abuse and intimidation, among other methods, to control the other partner.
Jane Keller, director of LIFE at the upper school, selected Piece-It-Together to present at Harker for a unique perspective from those who have personally experienced abusive relationships.
“We do have students in our community that have had to deal with serious issues in their lives,” Keller said. “If that fifty minutes helped one student know what to do when someone was crossing a line, then it was fifty minutes well spent. That’s one child that will not have a traumatic experience that will change the course of their development.”
The LIFE session generated mixed opinions from sophomores. Some students found it a helpful use of their time and enjoyed the talk.
“I just had an initial, basic sort of view on this sort of things, but after the LIFE session today, I learned about different kinds of abuse that I hadn’t known before and I learned about the stuff that I knew earlier in more detail,” Nirban Bhatia (10) said. “If in any case, if I feel like I am getting abused or am in any sort of relationship like that, I definitely feel confident reaching out to someone for help and I definitely know what to do in that situation thanks to this LIFE session.”
Others disliked the presentation. One of the issues criticized was the usage of a pen to demonstrate different coercion techniques.
“I didn’t really like the assembly today because I felt that it was unorganized,” Derek Kuo (10) said. “I felt that the message could have been more clearly conveyed. I felt like the presenter’s role play of the scenario about the pen was awkward, confusing, and didn’t really convey the right message.”
More information on abusive relationships and other mental health issues can be found on Peace-It-Together’s website.
