![“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 students and faculty decked out in class t-shirts battled for first place at the Homecoming Spirit Rally Thursday in the Athletic Center (AC).
The junior class came in first place at the end of the rally, followed by the frosh, the seniors and the sophomores.
Harker Dance Company (HDC) kicked off the event with an upbeat routine to “Comin’ In Hotta” by Power-Haus and Halo Sol.
The competitions commenced with the scream-off: each class was arranged vertically along the bleachers and screamed for a couple of seconds to register the highest number on a decibel meter operated by upper school computer science department chair Dr. Eric Nelson. The class of 2025 took first place with 120.8 decibels, and the classes of 2024 and 2026 trailed close behind with 119.4 decibels and 118.4 decibels, respectively. In last place was the class of 2027 with 115 decibels.
To start the class lip syncs, the frosh performed a “Mamma Mia”-inspired lip sync routine to “Mamma Mia” by ABBA, “Give Up” from “Phineas and Ferb” and “You Should Be Dancing” by the Bee Gees. The sophomores followed up with a “High School Musical” lip sync to “Cruisin’ for a Bruisin’” from “Teen Beach Movie,” “This Is Me” by Demi Lovato and “We’re All in This Together” from “High School Musical.” Complete with complex pyramid formations and lifts, the upper school cheer team performed their routine to “U Can’t Touch This” by MC Hammer, “My Name Is” by Eminem and “Come Thru (Move)” by DMX and Busta Rhymes.
“We really owe it to the leaders of this grade for the lip sync,” frosh lip sync and cheer performer Jessica Chen (9) said. “They spent a really long time putting it together. As for the dance, it was a team effort: everybody showed up to rehearsals, and everybody practiced at home. I love hearing the crowd and feeling the energy. I’m really excited for all the fun events that our student council and SAB work really hard to organize.”
Members of the Homecoming Court — seniors Cynthia Wang, Claire Miao, Daniel Lin, Dhruv Trivedi, Harshini Chaturvedula and Ramit Goyal; juniors Claire Anderson and Leo Sobczyn; sophomores Timothy Deng and Suhana Bhandare and frosh Nicole Dean and Pascal Qin — then competed in a series of relay races. In the first relay race, which involved wheelbarrow race and cup stacking, the juniors came in first, followed by the frosh, seniors and juniors. The class of 2025 also won the next relay where members duck-walked and army-crawled to a hula-hoop tossing station while the classes of 2024, 2026 and 2027 finished afterwards. The final relay had students leap-frog to a bottle-flipping station before shooting foam darts. The class of 2025 took the lead again, and the classes of 2026, 2027 and 2024 coming after them.
“Me and Claire have a really good chemistry — it just worked out,” Leo said. “In front of everyone it gets a little more stressful, but that stress makes me want to perform better. I’m looking forward to winning the spirit championship and tug-of-war on Saturday.”
The rally proceeded with lip sync performances from the juniors and seniors. Juniors danced to a “Hamilton”-themed routine to “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor, “My Shot” from Hamilton and “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus. Seniors followed with a lip sync which narrated a “Wicked”-inspired storyline to a soundtrack of “Applause” by Lady Gaga, “FE!N” by Travis Scott, “Popular” from “Wicked” and “Beauty and the Beat” by Justin Bieber.
“Lip sync Homecoming preparations this year were definitely a little bit tougher on account of the fact that we had less time than we usually do,” Harker Spirit Leadership Team (HSLT) media lead Shreeya Merchia (12) said. “ … Even though I attended some rehearsals that would get a little bit shaky, it came together for a super awesome final product.”
Senior, junior, sophomore and frosh class deans Carol Green, Christopher Hurshman, Meredith Cranston and Jeanette Fernandez, respectively, participated in a small-scale soccer game. Hurshman emerged victorious for the class of 2025, with Green being eliminated first, then Fernandez and finally Cranston.
During lunch, students wearing their class t-shirts could check-in with HSLT representatives under a tent in front of Manzanita Hall to earn spirit points for their class.
Classes will continue to compete for spirit points on Harker Day on Saturday. After losing to the juniors and seniors on Tuesday, the frosh will fight the sophomores for third place in tug-of-war before the Homecoming game while the two victors, the seniors and juniors, will face off for first place during the halftime showtime.
“I feel like now that we have that fire under us, hopefully that opens the door to more enthusiasm from the class of 2024 going forward,” Shreeya said. “I’m really looking forward to seeing how tug-of-war plays out on Saturday. There’s still a lot of time left, so we can turn it around.”
