![“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)
Students qualify for California State Science Fair and Intel ISEF
Amy Dunphy (10), one of the Synopsys grand prize winners, speaks with a booth presenter at Symposium.
May 5, 2016
The results of the Synopsys Science and Technology Championship were announced on March. 26, with 34 Harker students receiving prizes at the awards ceremony on April. 3. 16 out of the 34 have qualified to enter the 2016 California State Science Fair.
Cameron Jones (9), who won the first place award in the Physical Science and Engineering category is one of the qualified 16 students.
“I didn’t expect the awards I got,” Cameron said. “This was the first time I competed at Synopsys. I’ve done other science fairs many other times, but this was the first time I’ve done Synopsys because of a different school district. So I didn’t really know what to expect, because it’s a new fair for me, and I didn’t know how competitive it was going to be.”
Cameron plans to participate in the State Science fair with his research project from Synopsys, “Laser Etching of Graphene Oxide to Create High Energy Density Micro-Supercapacitors.”
Those among the qualified students who received Grand Prizes in the Synopsys Championship also awarded the opportunity to participate in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.
Grand prize winners include Amy Dunphy (10), Manan Shah (11) and Rishab Gargeya (11), who all received Grand Prizes in physical sciences, and Sadhika Malladi (12) and Jonathan Ma (12), who both received a Grand Prize in the biological sciences.
Amy received a Grand Prize for the first time for her project from Synopsys, “Preventing Urushiol (Poison Oak)-Induced Dermatitis by Deactivating the Allergen.”
“I wasn’t expecting to receive the Grand Prize, so I was really surprised, but also really excited at the same time. I’m really grateful for this opportunity, and I’m planning on continuing to use my project at Intel,” Amy said.
The California State Science Fair will be held in the California Science Center on May. 23 to 24, and the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair will be held in Phoenix, Arizona on May. 8 to 13.
This piece was originally published in the pages of the Winged Post on May 4, 2016.
