![“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 boys’ water polo loses to Lynbrook High School
Arnav Tandon (12) throws the water polo ball. The boys lost 11-12 against Lynbrook today.
September 7, 2016
Varsity boys’ water polo lost to Lynbrook High School 11-12 today in their regular season opener.
“For the first game of the season, I think we came out with good intensity,” varsity co-captain Arnav Tandon (12) said. “Lynbrook is a really fast team and we were right there with them, which means we were in a pretty solid shape, but there [are] always places to improve on. It’s a good start for us, but we can always do better.”
The upper school led Lynbrook at the end of the first quarter with a score of 2-1, of which Matthew Hajjar (10) scored both goals. During the second quarter, Alex Wang (11) scored a goal, along with Arnav Tandon, but the team trailed behind their opponent with a score of 4-5.
After half-time, Arben Gutierrez-Bujari (12) scored one goal during the third quarter, bringing the score to 5-6. The team powered through the fourth quarter as Arben and Matthew each scored a goal, and Aadith Srinivasan (11) scored twice, bringing the score to a tie of 10-10.
“We scored twice bringing it to 10-8,” Misha Tseitlin (12) said. “Then we went into victory formation and made mistakes and let them score one, then two and then it went into overtime. It wasn’t overconfidence; we made mistakes, they made mistakes, but we made more, and they capitalized on them.”
The game entered a close round of overtime, when Arben scored another goal for the team. The Lynbrook team scored two goals, including a buzzer-beater, resulting in the final score 11-12.
“When we have a game that close, there is no one thing that goes wrong,” varsity water polo coach Victor Adler said. “It’s a whole bunch of things that accumulate. When we executed our offense, that went well. Our passing was pretty decent and there are definitely positives to take away too.”
Varsity boys’ water polo will play against Fremont High School at Fremont on Sept. 8.
