![“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)
Going the distance: Upper school speech and debate competes at Jack Howe Memorial Tournament in Long Beach
Courtesy of David Feng
Members of the speech and debate team at the Jack Howe Memorial Tournament pose for a photo after their first day of competing at the invitational. The tournament took place on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1.
October 12, 2017
Six members of the upper school speech and debate team participated in the Jack Howe Memorial Tournament, which took place on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1.
Hosted by the California State University, Long Beach “Beach Forensics” Program, this year’s annual tournament offered five styles of debate and 11 speech events. Harker students participated in extemporaneous speech, original oratory, thematic interpretation and Congressional debate.
Junior Jason Huang, sophomores Avi Gulati and David Feng and freshman Andrew Sun competed in Congressional debate. Jason and Avi placed sixth and seventh, respectively, and earned a bid for the annual Tournament of Champions, which will be held on the last weekend of next April at the University of Kentucky.
Congressional debate participants wrote and submitted legislations for debate, and eight were chosen and released two weeks before the tournament. Although sophomore Thomas Rainow did not participate in the tournament, his proposition to implement an extreme gas tax to force a transition to renewable energy infrastructure and public transportation was selected from the five bills that Harker submitted.
“The team as a whole did research on [the topics],” Jason said. “Our assistant coaches were able to show us some of the better arguments they’ve encountered, and then we worked to build speeches around that and also backup points, in case our points were taken by other people who spoke early on.”
Sophomore Nikki Solanki advanced to the semifinals in thematic interpretation with her piece, titled “No Apologies,” about the overuse of the word “sorry” and its effects.
Avi and Meghna Phalke (11) participated in original oratory. Meghna advanced to the semifinals and Avi advanced to the finals of the event, placing third.
New speech and debate coach Scott Odekirk coached the Harker team for this tournament and noted a concept of personal excellence in the Harker community.
“The dedication to an improvement that I have seen at this school, just the innate sense that we have a duty and obligation to improve ourselves and to demand excellence of ourselves, is so ingrained here and so natural here that it really makes for powerful competitors on the speech and debate team,” Odekirk said.
The speech and debate team will travel to St. Mark’s School in Texas to compete in the Heart of Texas Invitational from Oct. 13 to 16.
This piece was originally published in the pages of the Winged Post on October 12, 2017.
