![“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)
Upper school journalism staff attend JEA NorCal media day
TALON yearbook reporter Angelina Burrows (10) takes notes during one of the JEA NorCal Media Day sessions. 31 Harker journalists attended the event today at Palo Alto High School.
PALO ALTO, Calif. – 33 upper school Harker Journalism staff attended the JEA NorCal Media Day at Palo Alto High School on Saturday, an annual convention for high school journalism students and advisors.
The day included 72 presentations split across four time blocks, with speakers ranging from student journalists to experienced media lawyers. Members of the Pearl Post journalism staff delivered a keynote talk about administration censorship at lunch.
“I came to the event because I thought it would be a good experience to learn more about journalism and get better at stuff I’m not so good at yet,” Saahil Herrero (10), a reporter for Harker Aquila and first-time journalism convention attendee, said. “[I liked] the one about feature writing; I thought that was really good … and it taught me how to write feature [articles]. I would say [all the sessions] were useful and informative.”
Various Palo Alto High School students volunteered for the event, directing attendees to the proper classrooms and setting up booths.
“Today is an event for kids from other schools that are really interested in journalism, to be able to come here and learn from what other students have learned throughout the years of taking journalism,” Anna Ghereghlou, a junior at Palo Alto High School and a staff writer for Verde, one of the school’s magazines, said. “[Overall, I enjoyed] just hanging out with people from other publications and learning stuff from them.”
In addition, the Humans of Harker staff of the journalism program presented one of the sessions, titled “Humans of [Your School].” The presentation, led by Humans of Harker strategic members Tiffany Chang (12), Michelle Wei (11) and Olivia Xu (11), covered tips to implement a similar feature project in other programs. Several Harker students, mostly wearing the black journalism “Five Freedoms” shirt, attended to support the presenters.
The various sessions about sports photography, covering controversial topics and staff bonding activities took place in the Palo Alto High School’s Media Arts Center and English building.
At lunch, the keynote speakers Adriana Chavira and two former staff members of The Pearl Post, Valeria Luquin (‘22) and Nathalie Miranda (‘22), took the stage for an interview about how their administration censored their newspaper and how they fought against it.
In addition to the speaker and keynote sessions, various organizations — including Herff Jones, Issuu and Jostens — hosted booths throughout the day. Presenters handed out stickers, pens and reporter’s notebooks to encourage attendees to visit their tables. Experienced advisers also offered critiques for students who brought copies of their publications to the convention.
Harker Journalism will also be attending the CSPA Spring Scholastic Convention at Columbia University in March and the JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention in Los Angeles in April.
A previous version of this article stated that 32 upper school Harker Journalism staff attended the event instead of 33. The article has been updated on Sept. 25, 2022, to reflect the correction of this error.
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