![“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)
Upperclassmen, faculty and parents gathered at the Baccalaureate ceremony to celebrate the conclusion of high school for the Class of 2025 and the Class of 2026’s ascension to their role as seniors on May 16 in the quad.
Assistant Head of School for Academic Affairs Jennifer Gargano welcomed all participants to the ceremony by congratulating the senior class and their unique contributions. Honor Council members Naiya Daswani (12) and Yash Greene (11) directed the Continuation of Honor ceremony, where Yash promised on behalf of the junior class to uphold the Harker values and the Honor Code.
Head of the Upper School Paul Barsky introduced this year’s senior-chosen Baccalaureate faculty speaker: math teacher Caren Furtado. Furtado centered her talk around how to get into “the Ivy League of life,” paralleling life’s journey to the college admissions process in a positive and humorous way. Throughout the speech, she celebrated all the accomplishments of the seniors throughout their high school career, like consecutively winning the tug-of-war three times.
“I was really nervous [to give this speech] because the Class of ’25 is well and truly amazing,” Furtado said. “They’re a phenomenal bunch, so I definitely felt some pressure to do justice to them in remembering them and honoring them and in really recognizing how wonderful they are. I wanted to talk about all the things that [the seniors] are good at, and community building is definitely by far their biggest strength.”
Student speaker Shreyas Chakravarty (12), who was chosen after presenting his speech to a student panel, took the stage after Furtado. In his address, he stressed the importance of using actions to express principles in each student’s daily life. As president of Green Team, Shreyas sees how people sometimes fail to uphold their belief through their behavior even if they believe in something.
“I thought the ceremony was really beautiful, especially the speech and message about connecting value to your actions — that’s a really powerful takeaway,” junior Maryanne Davies said. “It’s also definitely surreal that I’m almost a senior. It’ll be a big responsibility to be leading the rest of the student body, but I’m also excited because that just shows how far we’ve come as a class.”
Head of School Brian Yager ended the ceremony with the poem “Nobility” by Alice Carey. He emphasized how the Class of 2026 now had to lead the school and how they should strive to uphold values of integrity and kindness.
“I’m one hundred percent going to cry next year when my advisees are the ones being recognized,” junior adviser Patrick Kelly said. “This was the passing of the torch, and I’m so proud of the Class of 2026. These events are why teachers are teachers — to get to see our students celebrated and parents be proud of them.”
Senior violinists Andre Lu and Alex Zhong, violist David Tang (10), cellist Aya Sugaya (11) and pianist Iris Cai (12) also played “Piano Quintet in E-Flat Major” by Schumann, and Capriccio delivered a rendition of “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.”
“It’s a wonderful way to acknowledge the graduating class and to conclude their last day of classes here as they transition to alumni,” Barsky said. “Concurrently, it’s a great time to have the Class of ’26, come into a place of leadership on campus to become seniors and to gradually transition into their new roles.”
