![“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 Baseball loses to San Mateo
Matt Kennedy (10) completes his swing. The boys lost 1-9 against San Mateo High School.
April 15, 2016
The varsity baseball team lost 1-9 today afternoon against San Mateo High School at the Blackford baseball diamond.
The boys played San Mateo Tuesday earlier this week, losing 2-10.
“We’ve played them three times this year, they’re a good team they hit the ball really well and their team is full of seniors and I thought we battled really well; We’re very young and we’re learning as we go and every game we get more experience and for the guys we have they never stop fighting,” head coach Mike Delfino said. “To us, defense is the most important thing, you’re gonna have to be able to catch the ball and throw the ball with accuracy and so when we get to that point that’s when you start winning some ballgames, but we’re always defense first.”
The Eagles were able to hold San Mateo to a 1-0 lead during the first four quarters, each inning happening very quickly. However starting from the fifth inning San Mateo began to build their lead more and more. Eric Andrus (10) scored the only run this game for Harker and senior Trenton Thomas hit a triple.
“It’s kind of a scary feeling, you hit it and all the muscles in your body tense up and scream a bit inside, but gotta start running,” Trenton said about hitting the triple. “We did good out there. There were a couple innings where things got bad and we put our tails between our legs. but our pitchers did pretty well.”
First baseman Bobby Shick (10) shared his thoughts about the team’s performance.
“We didn’t win, but I think we played really well,” Bobby said. “This was a really good team and we lost to them in other games, but I think we played a lot better this game; we made a lot of defensive plays and we didn’t make many errors, but it was just a tough game.”
The team now prepares to play against Jefferson High School in a home game on April 19.
