![“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)
Los Altos Hills Youth Commission hosts annual leadership conference
CEO and founder of PandiaHealth.com Sophia Yen, one of the speakers at the conference, discusses her own experiences with starting her business. The conference featured both a Q&A session and a political panel segment.
March 9, 2017
The Los Altos Hills Youth Commission hosted their fifth annual leadership conference on Sunday at 10 a.m. at the Los Altos Hills Town Hall.
The event focused around building entrepreneurship skills and providing students with opportunities to network with local and state politicians, learn about different fields related to business and listen to lectures presented by business owners.
“The Silicon Valley is home to a ton of intelligent kids, but a lot of these kids don’t have the capability to communicate effectively, to reach out to mentors or to speak properly,” Youth Commission Member Aliesa Bahri (11) said. “We hope that hearing from all of these speakers will inspire them to learn to deal with failure, to gather the courage to pursue whatever they’re interested in and to help them learn and understand how to be a better speaker and how to sell themselves.”
The event began with a political panel, during which each panelist first spoke individually for five minutes and then answered predetermined and audience questions together. The panel was composed of California State Assemblymember Evan Low of the 28th district, California State Assemblymember Marc Berman of the 24th district and City of Palo Alto Council member Cory Wolbach.
They discussed various topics, including their personal experiences with running for office, their opinions on some of President Donald Trump’s statements and the role of failure in their careers.
“I don’t believe in fate. I don’t accept that things are guaranteed to happen. I think that we have a lot of choices in our lives: what we do with our lives, what we do as community, what we do as a country, what we do as a world,” Wolbach said. “If nobody else is stepping up to seize what you see as the wisest option for our community, sometimes you have got to step up for yourself.”
Serena Lu (11) came to the event specifically to hear Assemblymember Low speak. She first learned about him when he proposed a bill regarding sexual assault in response to the Brock Turner rape case.
“For a while now, one of my other friends has been pushing me to go to more political events that she’s a part of, and I just never had the chance to go,” she said. “I think it was very interesting to hear them discuss some of the policy ideas that they had and the things they care about.”
The second portion of the event consisted of ten-minute speeches by three entrepreneurs: Sophia Yen, CEO and founder of PandiaHealth.com and women’s rights activist; Donna Novitsky, CEO and co-founder of Yiftee and Carrol Titus, Chief Marketing Officer at Intensivate. Each speaker discussed their individual backgrounds, the process of starting a business and the challenges of entrepreneurship.
“One thing I would ask you to take home with you is that entrepreneurship is about passion,” Novitsky said. “What gets you through those highs and lows of the entrepreneurial roller coaster is your passion.”
The event concluded at 1 p.m., and the Youth Commission provided lunch for attendees.
