![“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)
Students attend Quickbooks Connect Conference
Previous “Shark Tank” contestants Romy Taormina of PsiBands, Julie Goldman of The Original Runner Co., Julie Busha of Slawsa and Amy Baxter of MMJ Labs partake in a panel. They spoke about their experiences in business and entrepreneurship after appearing on the show.
November 16, 2017
Eighteen students attended the annual Quickbooks Connect Conference today at the San Jose Convention Center.
Attendees listened to a keynote speech, explored company booths and attended breakout sessions. The 76 companies with booths included large companies such as Chase and Paypal but also smaller accounting companies such as Expensify, Plooto and Zoho.
“I thought it was really cool. This year, it was mainly focused on accounting, and it was nice to see all the booths. They had an interactive virtual reality station, which was really nice too,” Aditi Ghalsasi (10) said. “Overall, it was a really great experience.”
The keynote speech which students attended featured journalist Lisa Ling interviewing Julie Rice, co-founder and CEO of SoulCycle, a fitness company which offers indoor cycling classes. She spoke about starting the company with co-founder Elizabeth Cutler and the ups and downs of being in charge of a small business.
“For Elizabeth and I, we were two women who were really looking for something more than exercise. We were looking for an experience where we could make friends, relieve stress and take an hour for ourselves and really feel like it was empowering us in a different way than just burning calories or checking it off the list,” Rice said. “What we really wanted to do was create human experience. We really saw that this could be used as an opportunity for people to belong to something, to feel empowered and connected to themselves and other people.”
Sessions included panels from contestants on the TV show “Shark Tank”, on which entrepreneurs pitch their products to a group of judges, and other small business owners as well as sessions based on accounting.
“My favorite part of the conference was the talk that we went to with the ‘Shark Tank’ speakers because it was really interesting to hear that although ‘Shark Tank’ can help a business grow, the entrepreneur still has to keep working hard at it,” Ayesha Baweja (10) said.
Attendees were given a two-day pass for today and tomorrow, and some students chose to attend the event on the second day as well on their own.
Attendees file into the Main Stage for the keynote address given by Julie Rice, co-founder and CEO of fitness company SoulCycle. Rice was one of 13 featured speakers at the event.
