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![“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)
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![“[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)
Fall Quadchella attracts students and faculty to enjoy music and talent
Seniors Alice Feng, Arely Sun and Erica Cai watch Quadchella acts on Oct. 20 during long lunch. This year’s fall Quadchella has been divided into two parts, with the nine performances on Wednesday completing only the first Quadchella event of the 2021-2022 school year. Students and faculty can anticipate another Quadchella to come Nov. 4.
October 28, 2021
“How many of you check your grades every time you open your laptop?” Ritu Belani (10) asks the crowd of over 130 students and faculty.
The majority of the students responded by raising their hands as laughs filled the crowd. As Ritu guided the crowd through her questions related to school and work life, many of the students responded positively through laughter and constant participation, creating a light and delicate atmosphere.
Quadchella on Oct. 20 featured nine different acts, ranging from singing and guitar to dancing and comedy. The event took place at lunch to allow students and faculty to visit the performances whenever they wished.
The famous performance, named after the location on campus, is a biannual talent show that allows students and faculty an opportunity to showcase their talent in singing, dance, comedy and more.
Hosted by Associated Student Body (ASB), the talent show drew in students and faculty to support their peers, classmates and staff perform live and enjoy music, dance and comedy. The last Quadchella took place during the 2019-20 school year, before it was moved online and renamed as Zoomchella. For underclassmen, it was a new experience to attend.
“It’s my first year on campus, so it was really fun to watch all the performances and it was overall an enjoyable time,” Olivia Xu (10) said.
Upper school history and social science teacher Dr. Chuck Witschorik started off the talent show with a solo singing performance of “The Very Thought of You” by Nat King Cole from The Great American Soundtrack.
“I love music, and I love to share music, and I typically love The Great American Soundtrack from the 1930s and 1940s, so I am happy to be able to share a song like that,” Witschorik said.
Following Witschorik’s performance, Clarice Wang (12) and Reagan Ka (12) performed “Put Your Records On” by Ritt Momney, with Clarice playing the guitar and Reagan singing along.
“We both really like music, and over the summer we have been self learning guitar and we thought what a great idea if we played together, as well as sang together in a duet,” Reagan said.
The third act featured sophomore Miki Mitarai, who sang a cover of “Just Friends” by Musiq Soulchild. The crowd cheered Miki on. Ritu Belani (10) followed with her performance of a stand-up comedy skit, including jokes that lit up the crowd with laughter.
“I could tell that everyone was kind of enjoying it, which made me feel really good about it,” Ritu said.
Following Ritu’s comedy skit, Brandon Park and Kai Due performed the only dance, a choreography to “Roses” by the Chainsmokers.
The next act came from Lucy Feng (11) and Nina Franz (11), another vocal and guitar duo. With Lucy singing and Nina playing the guitar, the two juniors performed a cover of Qing Feng Wu’s “Tai Kong Ren” (太空人).
Then, Teresa Cai (12) strumed her acoustic guitar to ABBA’s “Mamma Mia,” filling the atmosphere with the sounds of her guitar, and Fern Biswas (9) and Saanvi Bhargava (9) sang a duet to the song “1950” by King Princess.
“The audience turnout was amazing and incredible, I didn’t expect this at all,” Fern said.
Students and staff were excited to see diverse songs, acts and a variety of performances to entertain the crowd.
“I [had] a lot of fun watching the performances,” Ruby Johnson (10) said. “I honestly wasn’t expecting this much, but yeah it’s enjoyable.”
To conclude the event, upper school English teacher and senior class dean Christopher Hurshman and Learning, Innovation and Design Director Diane Main performed a guitar duo. The duo has performed at Quadchella every year since the event started in 2017, giving students and staff a familiar treat.
This year’s fall Quadchella has been divided into two parts, with the nine performances on Wednesday completing only the first Quadchella event of the 2021-2022 school year. The second part of Quadchella will take place on Nov. 4.
