![“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)
Annual Synopsys science fair draws student researchers
Ellen Guo (12) presents her project to a judge at the 2018 Synopsys Science Fair. The fair has gone virtual in response to the CDC’s advisory against mass gatherings.
April 23, 2018
The 2018 Synopsys Championship took place at the San Jose Convention Hall on March 14th and 15th. High school students displayed their projects from 1:30pm to 5:00 pm for judges and were available for public viewing from 5pm to 6pm.
Among many middle school and high school students from the Santa Clara County of California, 51 students from the Harker School participated in the competition this year.
According to the official 2018 Synopsys website, this competition was created for STEM-minded and interested students. Students can participate in numerous categories, such as Biological Science and Engineering, Physical Science and Engineering, RRI Biological Science and Engineering, RRI Physical Science and Engineering.
When judges choose projects for awards, many are entered into other competitions such as the Intel International Science & Engineering Fair and the California Science and Engineering Fair. The science fair works with Society for Science & the Public to select projects for awards. Awards include the Grand Prizes–the Isabelle Stone Award (biological sciences) and the Castro Family Award (physical sciences). With some of those come an all-expense-paid trip to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) an all-expense-paid trip to the California Science & Engineering Fair (CSEF). Other awards just consist eligibility to compete in the Broadcom Masters Competition or CSEF. Participants are also awarded special awards which can be cash, tours ect.
Dr. Gary Blickenstaff, an AP Biology and biotechnology teacher at the upper school, shared his thoughts on what Synopsys helps students experience and how it helps them grow.
“[They gain] experience of actually doing research; doing some science where they have to develop a hypothesis, come up with a way of testing that hypothesis by way of an experiment of some kind, and then presenting their results, which is a big thing. Being able to take their results and put in into a format like the poster board that they can use to talk about the experiment they’ve done and explain the significance of the results [is important.]”
Students from grades 9 to 12 competed in the high school division of the fair. Shaya Zarkesh (12) has been participating in Synopsys since seventh grade.
“There was a lot of anxiously waiting for judges but there was also a lot of fun reuniting with people from other schools from Summer camps and stuff,” Shaya said.
The awards ceremony will take place at the Campbell Heritage Theatre on April 8. The ceremony will occur at 1:00 p.m. for middle school contestants and at 3:30 p.m. for highs school contestants.
This piece was originally published in the pages of the Winged Post on March 29, 2018.
