![“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)
BREAKING: Harker Outlook temporarily unavailable for faculty
The Office of Communication notified parents today that the Harker Outlook email accounts are currently inaccessible. Faculty will be notified when Outlook is restored.
January 8, 2022
This is a developing story. Check Harker Aquila for future updates.
Jan. 9, 11:19 a.m.
The Harker website and portal have been restored this morning, according to an email Office of Communication Director Pam Dickinson sent out to parents at 10:01 a.m.
Jan. 8, 8:17 p.m.
Harker email through Outlook is restored as of 4:16 p.m., according to a text message update from the Office of Communication.
Jan. 8, 2:44 p.m.
Harker email through Outlook (email addresses ending in “@harker.org”) is unavailable for faculty and staff, according to a text message sent out by the Office of Communication at 12:00 p.m. today.
The Office of Communication will notify faculty when Outlook is restored. Gmail (email addresses ending in “@staff.harker.org” or “@students.harker.org”) is still accessible by students and faculty.
Infinite Campus is also currently inaccessible, according to an email sent out to parents by the Office of Communication yesterday Jan. 7. The Harker School’s web provider, Finalsite, experienced an outage that has impacted thousands of schools nationally, including Palo Alto High School.
According to Dickinson, Harker only stores names, email, home addresses, usernames and passwords in Finalsite.
“We have been in communication with Finalsite regarding the issue and they have shared there is no evidence that any data has been compromised as a result of this incident,” Dickinson wrote in the email. “They are continuing with a thorough investigation with a third-party forensic specialist and will keep us informed as it progresses.”
Finalsite released an update this morning affirming that administration access has been restored to over 70% of sites.
“We still recommend that you limit software use to important page updates or edits and avoid relying on Alerts, Messages, and eNotify until our monitoring metrics demonstrate greater stability,” Finalsite’s update read.
