![“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)
SAN FRANCISCO — Harker Journalism Editors-in-Chief Lily Shi (12), Tiffany Zhu (12) and Hannah Jeon (12) and Managing Editor Alvira Agarwal (12) discussed tips for leadership through a roundtable session at JEANC Norcal Media Day at Archbishop Riordan High School on Saturday.
After explaining how the Harker publications are structured, they discussed strategies for organizing coverage, increasing engagement and keeping reporters on track. Editors answered questions from attendees about adapting suggestions to their own school’s publications and other obstacles during the managing process.
Attendee and San Marcos High School Journalism Adviser Lara Willbanks participated in the discussion to learn about the leadership structures and workflows of other journalism publications. She resonated with the red and green card format of Harker Aquila’s cycle deadlines.
“My favorite part of the session was hearing how the TV show ‘The Bear’ had inspired your adviseor, and I’m going to take that idea home,” Willbanks said. “It’s such a clear, green-light- red-light visual to show students and writers if they’re on task and heading towards the goal or if they’re not meeting that task yet.”
Attendee and Editor-in-Chief of El Estoque Benjamin Zhang (12) came to the Leadership Roundtable session to draw inspiration from other schools’ journalism initiatives to see if there was anything to bring back to Monta Vista. Benjamin was intrigued by Harker Aquila’s credit system where both articles and illustrations can count for credit.
“The thing about incentivizing graphics is interesting about how I can replace some story credits,” Benjamin said. “Our graphics team works really hard and oftentimes it takes them a long time to create graphics. So I want to incentivize them and make them feel like their work is valued and they’re not just doing extra hours for nothing.”
As a presenter, Tiffany appreciated how participants were invested in the session and asked and answered questions. She emphasized how every journalist can learn from each other, no matter what school or publication they work in.
“It was really just amazing to see that community and see how everyone was helping each other out, and we were all learning from each other,” Tiffany said. “There’s so much that goes into journalism and like managing our staff and being in these leadership positions. I hope there were some specifics that will help [attendees] lead their teams, because journalism is such an important field, and we all want to make sure that our staff and our new reporters are motivated in every way.”
