![“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)
Winning Keys: Students garner medals in regional Scholastic Art and Writing Awards
Provided by Raymond Banke
Raymond Banke (11) submitted his artwork, titled Himalayas, to the regional Scholastic Art and Writing contest. Raymond won two Gold Keys, one Silver Key, and four Honorable Mentions.
March 8, 2018
Over 60 upper school students received recognition in this year’s regional Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, announced on Jan. 30, for their submissions of literary and visual art.
According to Scholastic, regional competitions judge students’ work for three criteria: originality, technical skill and the emergence of a personal voice or vision. Submissions can win a Gold Key, a Silver Key, an Honorable Mention or an American Visions & Voices Nomination. Gold Key works are then judged at the national level by a panel of experts in the industry and can win a National Medal.
Emily Chen (12), who received three Gold Keys, two Silver Keys and three Honorable Mentions for her writing, states that competitions like the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards are not only a great way for student creators to grow but also very helpful for developing written and artistic presentation skills.
“It’s important for writers and artists to be recognized for the hard work and effort that they put into creating really unique and original pieces,” Emily said. “I think that, just like anybody else, I’m really grateful that people enjoyed my writing, and it encourages me to keep writing in the future.”
Junior Raymond Banke won two Gold Keys, one Silver Key and four Honorable Mentions for his artwork. He describes the Scholastic competition as a good gauge of one’s overall art skills at a more competitive level.
“For me, it’s confirmation that you definitely have potential in these areas because it’s nice to have a third party tell you how you’re doing compared to other people,” he said.
Winners at the national level will be announced on March 13 and recognized at the National Ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
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Complete list of Harker winners:
Gold Key in Visual Arts: Raymond Banke (11), Deb Chatterjee (12), Cynthia Chen (10), Gwyneth Chen (12), Katelyn Chen (10), Liza Egorova (11), Catherine Wang (11), Elizabeth Yang (11), Anna Wang (11)
Silver Key in Visual Arts: Raymond Banke (11), Timothy Chang (11), Cynthia Chen (10), Gwyneth Chen (12), Ishani Cheshire (11), Liza Egorova (11), Katrina Liou (11), Catherine Wang (11), Anna Wang (11)
Honorable Mention in Visual Arts: Raymond Banke (11), Anoushka Buch (9), Cynthia Chen (10), Gwyneth Chen (12), Ishani Cheshire (11), Aislinn Coveney (12), Liza Egorova (11), Susan He (11), Kaitlin Hsu (12), Jason Huang (11), Julia Huang (12), Ashley Jiang (12), Katrina Liou (11), Raveena Panja (12), Rani Sheth (10), Emma Yu (12), Anna Wang (11), Joshua Zhou (10)
Gold Key in Writing: Emily Chen (12), Ishani Cheshire (11), Ellen Guo (10), Jacqueline He (12), Millie Lin (12), Annie Ma (10), Jerry Peng (11), Annabelle Perng (11), Sahana Srinivasan (12), Ayla Tanurhan (10), Larissa Tyagi (10), Joshua Valluru (10), Katherine Zhang (11)
Silver Key in Writing: Emily Chen (12), Gwyneth Chen (12), Ishani Cheshire (11), Kathy Fang (10), Sophia Gottfried (9), Rose Guan (11), Jacqueline He (12), Jessica Jiang (10), Vivian Jin (9), Prameela Kottapalli (11), Millie Lin (12), Andrew Lu (9), Annie Ma (10), Irina Malyugina (9), Kalyan Narayanan (10), Anjay Saklecha (11), Sahana Srinivasan (12), Joshua Valluru (10), Liana Wang (12), Shania Wang (11), Kelsey Wu (11), Helen Yang (11), Katherine Zhang (11), Tiffany Zhao (11)
Honorable Mention in Writing: Emily Chen (12), Ishani Cheshire (11), Aditi Ghalsasi (10), Aarzu Gupta (10), Mahika Halepete (10), Jacqueline He (12), Jessica Jiang (10), Amy Jin (12), Aditi Khanna (10), Jason Lin (9), Andrew Lu (9), Irina Malyugina (9), Rakesh Nori (10), Sana Pandey (10), Amla Rashingkar (10), Anjay Saklecha (11), Sahana Srinivasan (12), Betsy Tian (9), Joshua Valluru (10), Alexander Young (11), Katherine Zhang (11), Tiffany Zhao (11)
This piece was originally published in the pages of the Winged Post on March 6, 2018.
