![“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)
Harker TSA attends State Conference
Sophia Luo (12) smiles as she returns to her seat after receiving her first-place medal in Career Preparation. Sophia founded Harker TSA in her sophomore year.
March 23, 2016
Harker’s Technology Student Association (TSA) competed at 2016 California TSA State Conference from March 18 to 20 at California State University, Bakersfield.
The two-day competition took place on Friday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. After traveling to Bakersfield by car on Friday, students competed in all competitive events and attended the awards ceremony on Saturday. Competitors returned from Bakersfield on Sunday.
Fifteen upper school students participated in this year’s conference: freshmen Alexander Young, Kaushik Shivakumar and Anna Wang; sophomores Derek Kuo, Adrian Chu, Sharon Yan, Derek Yen, Gary Tsai, Kevin Xu and Sumer Kohli; and seniors Kevin Ke, Belinda Yan, Cynthia Hao, Karen Qi and Sophia Luo. These competitors competed in over 30 different events, with topics ranging from Debating Technological Issues to Biotechnology Design to Music Production.
“It’s basically interdisciplinary fields that we learn about through doing competitions,” said Sophia, club founder and Board Council member. “We mainly learn about how technology affects different areas of the world.”
To prepare for this year’s conference, competitors created schedules at the beginning of the year that they tried to follow. Officers checked in with members at various checkpoints to ascertain that members were prepared. Based on past competitive history, officers expected excellence at this year’s competition as well.
TSA is an organization that aims to develop students’ skills in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) while also providing leadership chances and networking opportunities. With the motto “Learning to Live In A Technical World,” it hopes to foster personal growth, leadership and opportunities by allowing members to apply and integrate STEM concepts through co-curricular activities, competitions and related programs.
“What makes TSA stand out is that it focuses more on career exploration and interdisciplinary fields rather than purely on STEM,” Sophia said.
For the freshmen attending the State conference, this was their first TSA competition.
“I just wanted to go to the State conference and see what it’s like,” said Anna, who competed in Video Digital Production and Engineering Design. “I was looking forward to meeting new people and seeing other people’s work.”
Winners at this conference qualify to attend the 2016 National TSA Conference, which will be held from June 28 to July 2 in Nashville, Tennessee.
This piece was originally published in the pages of The Winged Post on March 23, 2016.
