![“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)
Harker community unites in second annual Harker Day
Seniors Rohan Gorti and Zubin Khera (pictured on the right) present TuffToy, a dog toy business they co-founded with senior Arin Jain, at a Harker Day booth. All across campus, a variety of stations promoted clubs, organizations and student-run businesses.
October 12, 2022
Staff, alumni, parents and students across all four Harker campuses gathered at the upper school to enjoy food, games, performances, sporting events and more for the second Harker Day event held on Saturday.
Last year, Harker’s Family & Alumni Picnic was combined with the Homecoming football game for the first Harker Day, an annual event aiming to “celebrate family fun,” according to the Harker Day website. While the picnic took place at the middle school campus, the shift to the upper school allowed for a greater variety of activities.
“I’ve come to [the Picnic or Harker Day] every year since kindergarten, and I always have a lot of fun,” Vedant Balachandran (10) said. “I remember when it was at the middle school, but I really like how it’s at the upper school campus now. They’re able to put a lot more booths here, there are different food trucks everywhere and there’s even a cat pen.”
The day began at 11:30 a.m. with various clubs, organizations and programs leading stations in Nichols Hall and the Quad, including pumpkin decorating organized by Art Club, science experiments organized by WiSTEM and a Buy Better Boba campaign organized by Green Team. Student-run businesses such as Mika Beauty and TuffToy also had an opportunity to share their missions and products with the Harker community.
At 12 p.m., dance, vocal and theatrical groups of lower, middle and upper school students enthralled audience members in Patil Theater. After a second show at 1:30 p.m., the Middle School Band and Lower School Jazz Ensemble performed at 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.
“Performing for Dance Fusion was my favorite part of the day,” Caitlin Feng (5) said. “I was kind of nervous when I saw the entire audience for the first time, but then I felt better during the second [performance].”
Participants could also choose from a variety of Harker Day fare offered by food trucks and booths throughout the day. Twelfth grade students continued the annual tradition of the Senior Sweet Shoppe while frosh sold pizza to fundraise for their class, and student-run organizations provided specialty refreshments like popcorn and baked goods to raise money and bring awareness to their initiatives. Alumni reunited at the annual alumni barbeque luncheon hosted in front of Manzanita Hall, and parents chatted over snacks at grade level picnic tables in the orchard.
“It’s fun to have an event like [Harker Day] because you can do whatever you want,” Zoya Khera (7) said. “My favorite part of the day has been all the food, especially the chicken tenders and the popcorn.”
Like Family and Alumni Picnics past, this year’s Harker Day featured unique activities catering to the vast age range of attendees. Visitors to the Furry Friends Forest surrounding Dobbins Hall could pet, walk or even adopt dogs, cats, guinea pigs and more. In the library, guests could peruse Harker’s digital archives, including yearbooks, newspapers, magazines, brochures and images dating back to the late 1800s. Lastly, younger students explored inflatable obstacle courses and Eaglet Zones with numerous carnival games stationed around campus.
“My wife and I spent a lot of time at the dog adoption area, because she was trying to convince us to adopt a second dog to go with one that we adopted about four months ago,” Director of Standardized Testing and Scheduling Troy Thiele said. “But I have to say [I was relieved] to walk away from the dog adoption center without having purchased the dog.”
Throughout the day, Harker’s water polo, volleyball and flag football teams faced competitors in the Singh Aquatic Center and the Zhang Gymnasium. In addition, at 4:30 p.m., a Hall of Fame ceremony in the Zhang Gymnasium honored inductees Alex Abarca (‘09), Daniza Rodriguez (‘13), Amanda Sullivan (‘06) and the 2007-08 girls varsity volleyball team for their athletic achievements and exemplary sportsmanship. For the culminating sports event of Harker Day, the varsity football team defeated the Delta Charter Dragons 48-20 in the Homecoming game, which ended at 8:45 p.m.
“Harker Day is great for engendering community spirit from TK to grade 12,” Thiele said. “I have a fifth grader at home, and being able to experience some of what the high schoolers do on a day like today makes him excited to grow up. Harker Day helps [younger] kids look forward [to the future] while letting older students reminisce over the days of Harker Picnics past.”
