![“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)
Math Club members attend first travel contest
The PUMaC team practices on Nov. 10. The competition will be on Nov. 18 at Princeton University.
November 18, 2017
A team of eight students from the Math club will compete in the Princeton University Mathematics Competition (PUMaC) in New Jersey on Nov. 18th. The upper school’s team consists of senior Swapnil Garg; juniors Katherine Tian and Michael Wang; sophomores Cynthia Chen, Rohan Cherukuri, Rishi Dange and Jeffrey Kwan and freshman Utkarsh Priyam. The team will be facing off against over a hundred other schools in many different competitions.
“I like going to PuMAC and math competitions so that I can see all my math friends because there aren’t that many opportunities for me to see them in real life,” team captain Swapnil said.
The contest consists of the Power Round, the Live Round, the Individual Test, and the Team Test.
The problems in the Power Round, unlike the other rounds, expose a teams to proof-based mathematics and includes questions expected to take multiple hours. The problems are given to the teams before hand so students may work on it. On the day of the competition, the teams must submit their solutions.
The Live Round, a new event that started this year, consists of problems that must be submitted as a group to receive the next set. This is also the only round with a live scoreboard, adding to the suspense.
In the Individual Round, students choose to take a test about one of four subjects: Algebra, Geometry, Number Theory, and Combinatorics, which is a branch of mathematics about counting. Each test contains eight problems and must be completed within one hour.
The Team Test is a non-proof based test where teamwork is allowed. Teams are given a set of problems, and they do their best to complete the 15 questions in the allotted time of 30 minutes. Additionally, the Team Tests include a minigame portion as opportunity to score more points.
At the end, the top 3 individuals and teams will receive an award. Also, the top 10 teams, individuals, and overall scores from each category will be acknowledged for their high placings in the competition.
“I’m really excited for the competition since I think it will be a rewarding experience,” Cynthia said, “I’ll be able to learn more math as well as bond with my team members.”
Three weeks ago, the upper school’s team started preparing for the competition by meeting for two hours every week, reviewing problem solving techniques and practicing Team Tests together. Additionally, they practice individual tests at home.
“Harker got 19th place back in 2015, which is not bad. We did really well in the power round and the team round; but unfortunately, our individual total was not very high, and that’s the main reason we were 19th and not higher,” stated Swapnil. “We hope to possibly break top ten this year; that’s our main goal.”
Some of the team members will also be competing in the Princeton University Physics Competition the following day, on the 19th. Later in the year, the students can also compete in the Math Madness competitions, the monthly California Math League, the Mandelbrot competitions, the Harvard-MIT Math and the Berkeley Math Tournaments.
This piece was originally published in the pages of the Winged Post on November 16, 2017.
