![“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)
NEW YORK — Ten upper school journalism staff members and adviser Whitney Huang, CJE presented two sessions at the Columbia Scholastic Press Association annual convention on Wednesday and Thursday.
Senior Brandon Zau and juniors Shiv Deokar, Victor Gong, Alison Yang and Jessica Wang led the inaugural presentation of “Let’s Eat: How to make your illustrations, infographics and photos COOK!” They discussed how to elevate visuals by layering with design techniques. Presenters showcased various print and digital examples from the Winged Post, Talon and Harker Aquila to over 90 attendees, highlighting integrated elements like photo illustrations, infographics or experimental page designs. Several slides showed different iterations of designs over the editing process, emphasizing the thought behind every visual.
Faculty adviser Sarah Kappel from Germantown Friends School attended the presentation. She teaches design and enjoyed seeing Harker’s level of complexity.
“As a designer, I love when students share their work and can help us visualize what they are doing,” Kappel said. “I know all about this, but we’re not actually doing those things yet, so it was really inspirational to see you guys doing it and making me feel like we could do it in our school, too.”
Victor presented on the Winged Post. He said he enjoyed sharing his knowledge and receiving high audience engagement.
“I had a lot of fun talking about how infographics and illustrations work together to make a more cohesive page,” Victor said. “I noticed a lot of people taking photos, so they’re using this information in their own publications. It was a pretty packed crowd, so definitely a lot of people were interested.”
The second presentation, “Humans of [Your School],” focused on the Humans of Harker project. The profile series describes the stories and passions of Harker seniors, an annual series inspired by Brandon Stanton’s Humans of New York. Presenters emphasized their personal stories with the HoH project and outlined Harker’s own history with HoH. The presentation also emphasized Harker’s lessons learned from taking on this large-scale project, like organization techniques and ways to support staff.
Junior presenters Felix Chen, Vika Gautham, Anwen Hao, Katerina Matta and Chayce Milheim walked through the Humans of Harker process and shared tips for implementing the program with over 50 attendees.
Student journalist Eric Woods from Northview High School found the presentation informative.
“I really want to elevate our [yearbook] and look into talking about more stories,” Eric said. “I like a lot of the ideas they presented in this session. I’m not planning on taking it just for seniors; I want to take inspiration from it and make student profiles throughout the book.”
Journalism students look forward to attending the JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention from April 4-6 in Kansas City, Missouri. They will also present three sessions: “Humans of [Your School],” “Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable” and “Bringing smiles to your staff.”
