![“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)
Didn’t catch the VMAs this past weekend? Here’s a summary of what happened!
Wikimedia Commons
Artist Beyoncé begins her acceptance speech for eleven nominations and eight awards at the MTV Video Music Awards at the Madison Square Garden, on Sunday, August 28, 2016.
September 1, 2016
The glistening stage rocked with historical moments ranging from the re-creation of “Lemonade” by Beyoncé to Rihanna receiving the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award to Britney Spears marking her first performance at the awards show since 2007 at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) held on Sunday night.
This year’s VMA’s were held at Madison Square Garden. Many singers impressed the audience with their performances and nominations.
Here are some of the standout moments of what happened at the 2016 VMAs:
Winning eight awards, Queen Bey was marked as the first artist to hit 24 total VMAs in the history of the award show, surpassing the previous record of twenty awards held by Madonna.
Beyoncé made use of her time on stage for sixteen minutes of music about strength, righteousness and female solidarity. All of the songs that she sang came from her 2016 album, “Lemonade,” including “Formation,” “Don’t Hurt Yourself” and “Pray You Catch Me.”
Beyoncé stands at the front of the building where the VMA’s were held in Manhattan with females featured in the music video of her new influential album “Lemonade.”
Throughout her performance, Queen Bey was joined on stage with multiple women that appeared in the music video of her album, which won the Breakthrough Long Form Video award, to deliver an empowering yet unforgettable feminist message.
“I thought her performance was probably one of, if not the, best I’ve seen on an awards show. It was so thought out and choreographed perfectly,” Haris Hosseini (10) said. “Her new album is just another statement on both women’s’ rights and racial rights. Beyoncé empowers women like basically no other entertainer around right now.”
Named one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World,” by Forbes in 2015, Rihanna, created her own concert during the main show of the 2016 VMAs, as she added three additional parts to her original schedule. The VMA show started off with Rihanna’s first segment, in which she sang an electronic medley of her songs such as “Don’t Stop the Music” and “Rude Boy.”
She took a twelve minute break before her next performance, as Future and Ariana Grande performed their own songs. When Rihanna returned to stage, she performed a variety of songs from her R&B track, coming out with a new costume and persona.
At the end of her four segment performance, she earned the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award for her influential music videos.
Drake presents the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award to artist Rihanna on the right.
“My success is not my own,” Rihanna stated, when receiving the award from Drake. “It’s my fans’, it’s my country’s, it’s women, it’s black women.”
Other outstanding award-winning artists include Adele, winning eight awards, primarily for her music video “Hello,” Drake achieving the Best Hip Hop Video for “Hotline Bling” and DNCE, winning the honor for Best New Artist.
Humorously, Olympic Swimmer and all-time gold medalist, Michael Phelps, decided to join the stage revealing that he was listening to one of Future’s songs, “Stick Talk,” from Future’s “DS2” album when he made the angry face that made the Internet buzz.
Michael Phelps introduces a performance by Future at the MTV Video Music Awards at the Madison Square Garden, on Sunday, August 28, 2016.
“Of course, Beyoncé hit it off during the VMAs, but overall, everything was super well choreographed,” Aashe Shreekumar (11) said. “One of the funniest things that happened though, was when Michael Phelps hit the stage, since I didn’t expect he would reveal the song.”
The 2016 VMA show displayed a 35% drop across all multimedia networks that showcased the main concert totalling 6.5 million viewers, while last year was off the charts with 9.8 million spectators. The 2017 Video Music Awards will happen in August of next year.
