![“[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)
Luke Wu (11), Amishi Gupta (11), Sophia Zhu (10), Nicole Dean (10) and Albert Yao (11) won the ASB elections for President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and Spirit Coordinator, respectively, for the 2025-26 school year in results announced on Friday.
Juniors, sophomores and frosh voted for candidates through the online voting platform OpaVote on Thursday, with a voter turnout of 91.74%. Candidates delivered speeches to the student body and participated in a Q&A session in the Zhang Gymnasium on Tuesday.
ASB President Luke, who ran against Ananya Pradhan (11), pledged to widen students’ food selection through Milk Tea Mondays, snack baskets and protein bars for athletes, and to delay bathroom maintenance after school. As the 2024-25 ASB Community Service Committee Head, he emphasized his dedication to student bonding and spirit.
“With our new team that I’m gonna help lead, we’re going to lead with a vision of unity, with a vision of compassion and with a vision of respect,” Luke said. “We’re going to respect everyone’s ideas and make sure that all proposals and all campaign promises are heard and achieved to the best of our abilities.”
ASB Vice President Amishi, running against Hannah Jiang (10), spoke about her experience organizing school-wide events like Hoscars, Chellaween and Curly Fryday. She outlined her vision for student life with community bonding initiatives like hot chocolate in the mornings.
“Hearing the results made me really confident and happy to move into next year with energy as VP,” Amishi said. “The team this year was really great, and I’m excited to work with everyone elected. Building that new team dynamic on ASB is going to be amazing.”
ASB Secretary Sophia ran against Nikhil Sharma (11) and emphasized a platform of openness through quarterly fishbowl discussions, public school meeting agendas and a more accessible Student Council website.
“I’m really surprised because it’s usually the upperclassmen who get on council,” Sophia said. “At the same time, I’m excited to learn new skills and use my old ones to improve transparency between the council and the student body.”
ASB Treasurer Nicole Dean ran against Kallie Wang (11), focusing on her financial experience and advocacy work while proposing initiatives like internal peer feedback forms and displaying the budget on the Student Council website.
“I was prepared for either outcome, but I’m really optimistic about this new ASB group,” Nicole said. “I’ve heard so many great ideas, and I’m excited to start working on those projects and wrap up the ones that we’ve been doing this year. We’re always open to talk, and if [students] have any suggestions, we’ll make sure that what they say and care about gets represented.
ASB Spirit Coordinator Albert, who ran against Claire Yu (11), promised monthly spirit recaps through school meeting videos and demonstrated his dedication to student spirit by incorporating a “Subway Surfers” performance into his speech.
“I’m really grateful for the people who’ve worked alongside me and helped with my campaign,” Albert said. “I also want to say a few words congratulating Claire, who’s someone I’ve worked with for a long time and really appreciate. With LeBron as my witness, I’m gonna do a lot of spirit coordinating.”
Dean of Students Kevin Williamson led a Q&A panel following candidate speeches, giving candidates another opportunity to expand their platforms. They discussed feasibility of campaign promises, budgeting priorities, communication and inclusive spirit initiatives.
Current ASB President Sam Parupudi (12) and ASB Spirit Coordinator Daniel Chen (12) described the responsibilities of each role. The president leads student council and balances different opinions; the vice president helps the president in management council affairs; the secretary schedules handles scheduling of school meetings and ASB agendas; the treasurer supervises the council finances and the spirit coordinator supports all grades’ Student Activity Boards.
The announcement concluded weeks of campaigning, during which candidates shared their platforms through posters and social media. Primaries were held on March 20, where an initial round of voting determined the top two candidates for each position.
Additional reporting by Lily Peng, Chelsea Xie and Samuel Tong.
