![“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)
School Meeting Recap 4/8
Kinetic Krew performed at school meeting on Tuesday to preview the upcoming Just Dance showcase, which will be held in the Patil Theater on Friday.
April 10, 2019
Avi Gulati (11) began the school meeting on Monday by announcing when the annual Quadchella talent show will take place. The event will be on May 2 and will be held at the Shah patio instead of the quad this year. Because of this, Avi joked that the event would be more appropriately named “Shahchella”. Students are able to sign up at harker.io/quadchella. The deadline for applications is April 22.
Next, Grace Hajjar (11) told students that she meant to do a live interview of track and field captain Mitchell Granados (12). However, because Mitchell had not come to school yet, Arjun Kilaru (12) read Mitchell’s responses from his phone. In his interview, Mitchell expressed pride in how the track and field team performed in the recent Firebird Meet.
English teacher Charles Shuttleworth then announced that there would be new bins placed around campus. These bins would be different from “dry” bins in that they would be exclusively for paper. Any plastics would still go in the “dry” bin.
Aaditya Gulati (9) encouraged students to attend a Pizza and Politics event next Thursday at 4:30 p.m. in Manzanita. The talks will revolve around foreign policy on arm sales and they will be led by Alycia Cary (12), Alexander Young (12) and Nakul Bajaj (11).
After showing a promotional video, Avi Gulati (11) and Nikki Solanki (11) introduced a speech showcase called Speak Up. The event will allow students to listen to some of the speeches, many of which have received awards, given by members of the Harker speech team. It will take place in the Nichols Auditorium from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 18.
Swimmers Cassandra Ruedy (11), Alyssa Huang (11) and Katie Li (10) encouraged students to attend the swimming senior night this Thursday at 4:15 p.m. at the Singh Aquatic Center. They will face off against The King’s Academy.
Robotics team member Arthur Jakobsson (10) updated students on the robotics team’s recent accomplishments.
Matthew Hajjar (12), Arjun, Grace, Zach Hoffman (12), and Chemistry teacher Andrew Irvine informed students that this week is Spirit Week. They then encouraged students to watch the Regatta spirit competition at long lunch on Monday. Participants had to arrive at 12:40 p.m. while the event formally began at 12:50 p.m..They then asked belly flop participants to stand for a round of applause.
Lastly, Vance Hirota (11) encouraged students to come to the dance senior night. Although the event is free, they expressed the need for students to reserve seats beforehand. After, student dancers performed a routine in place of a video to persuade students to come to the senior night event.
