![“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)
During lunch on Wednesday May 2, students heard an unfamiliar sound as they rushed to Manzanita hall.
A DJ was blasting dance music outside of Nichols Hall. In hopes of alleviating stress for Advanced Placement tests next week, Spirit Club hosted a DJ to lighten the mood. Meanwhile, the Art Department hosted their annual Art Show in Nichols Hall amidst the musical surprise and club meetings.
The show displayed works done by all art students including those in Study of Visual Arts, Ceramics, and AP Studio Art. All artwork was categorized into six categories: Drawing, Painting, Sculpture, Ceramics, Graphic Arts, and Photography.
The art show gives students an opportunity to display talents to their friends, faculty, and peers. Shantanu Joshi (11) was impressed by his friends’ pieces that displayed a wide range of skill, something he did not know his friends had.
“It’s really surprising to see these cool designs by people you wouldn’t expect,” he said, pointing to one of the portraits in Aditya Sastry’s (12) Breadth Portfolio.
Shantanu then noticed this year’s assortment of works such as digital art pieces and pop culture structures as opposed to only traditional paintings and watercolors of years past.
In addition to showcasing student artwork, the exhibit held an anonymous ballot hosted by the Art Club for students to vote for the Main Hall mural design. There were four designs available to choose from, each drawn individually by a member of the Club.
Ilsa Zhang (11), one of the four artists of the mural designs, based her work off of the building itself.
“Since Main Hall is the literature and language [building], we wanted to incorporate the literature themes from the books that we read in each grade level,” she said.
The individual artists who designed a mural remained anonymous to instigate fair voting.
Head of the Art Department Jaap Bongers supervised the event and invited Exhibition Juror Teresa Canniff to assess the pieces. Canniff is a mixed media installation artist and graphic designer based in San Francisco; this past March, one of her solo exhibitions was displayed in the Monterey Peninsula College Art Gallery.
After evaluating all of the pieces, she recognized two titles in each of the six categories: one first place and one honorable mention. The most coveted award, Best of Show, was given to Antonia Isper’s (12) Solitude Series.
The Art Exhibition will be on display in Nichols Hall until May 31.
![“Probably the most important thing that I can do is to help raise awareness amongst youth because [students] are the ones that sadly are going to inherit this mess. It’s important for us, the people who helped take the planet to the place it is now, to really lean in and make a difference about this issue," Moss said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/DSC_9315-e1778880890147-1200x873.jpg)
