![“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)
Associated Student Body (ASB) President Daniel Lin (12) opened the third school meeting of the year on Friday.
Assistant Upper School Division Head Kelly Horan announced several academic updates, including information about gradebook reports coming out on Oct. 2 and a new policy setting the deadline for schedule change requests to Nov. 1. She also reviewed the process for self-studying Advanced Placement (AP) exams, noting that students who self-study a course are not eligible to take the corresponding class in school, and emphasized her advice that “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.”
Law Club President Sasha Masson (12) then spoke about Mock Trial, a competition where high school teams compete in simulated court trials on criminal cases. She invited students to come to Mock Trial auditions, which will take place on Wednesday from 3-5 p.m. and Thursday from 12:45-1:15 p.m., and the interest meeting which took place on Monday from 3:30-4:15 p.m. in upper school history teacher James Tate’s room.
HarkerDev President Kabir Ramzan (12) shared details about Club Fair, where student organizations set up booths for interested students to learn about different clubs during long lunch today. HarkerDev set up QR codes at each booth for students to join as members. These links will be available on the HarkerDev website along with other new features available in upcoming weeks such as a centralized calendar for club meetings.
For the first Community Service Spotlight of the year, Director of Student Organizations Eric Kallbrier introduced Alec Zhang (12) and Jingjing Liang (10), founders of Future Bridge, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering youth through education. Alec and Jingjing spoke about their experience hosting STEM and business summer camps for children in underprivileged communities this past summer.
Upper school biology teacher Matthew Harley announced Arjun Gurjar’s (12) qualification for the semifinal round of the 2023 Breakthrough Junior Challenge, a science video competition. He asked students and faculty to vote for Arjun’s video about transposons to advance him to the final round with the possibility of winning a $100,000 prize for Harker.
Harker Spirit Leadership Team (HSLT) representative Arjun Moogimane (12) thanked students for coming to the Spirit Kickoff on Sept. 1 and gave a shout-out to Art Club for creating the kickoff banner. HSLT representative Chayce Milheim (11) then gave a brief sports update, noting that boys soccer had an interest meeting in the Multi-Purpose Room and boys softball had an interest meeting in the team room, both on Friday at 1 p.m. She also reminded students to keep an eye out on the Harker Spirit Instagram for information about the neon-themed football game next Friday.
Conservatory members Luke Mehta (12), Shareen Chahal (12), Jason Shim (11), Sam Parupudi (11) and Iris Cai (11) spoke about this year’s Dance Production, which held auditions from 3:30-5:30 p.m. on Friday in the Rothschild Performing Arts Center (RPAC). They also spoke about the experiences of Harker’s cast of the “25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” traveling and performing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
ASB Spirit Coordinator Luke then spoke about campus cleanliness, asking students to clean up their trays during lunch instead of leaving the job to ASB members or kitchen staff.
Upper School Dean of Students Kevin Williamson made an announcement about traffic and crosswalk safety concerns, reminding students of the correct crosswalks to use in the morning and advising students to stay in groups when leaving the campus in the afternoon and evening.
ASB Secretary Cynthia Wang (12) made the final announcement that school meeting resources will be available on Schoology.
