![“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)
Conservatory representatives Simon Kirjner (12), Taylor Summers (12), Megha Unny (11), Anika Basu (11) and Emma Zhou (10) began Monday’s school meeting by inviting students to the Fall Choral Concert, “Global Movements,” on Nov. 13 at 6:30 pm.
Eagle Updates hosts Charlotte Ludlow (12) and Pedro Castro (11) named Kendra Zhao (10) and Angela Li (9) as Athletes of the Week. Girls tennis announced their brackets for the upcoming WBAL championships program, securing a #5 seed – their best scores since 2008. Boys varsity water polo will play against Stevenson on Thursday 7:00 PM at Gilroy High in the CCS semifinal.
Director of Learning, Innovation and Design Diane Main reminded students to replace any laptop used for more than three years to avoid technical issues. She also explained that students should be an admin on their own computers to install certain programs, like Lockdown Browser.
Language and Linguistics Club officers Linda Zeng (12), Jessica Hu (12) and Raeanne Li (11) announced the annual LALC Fall Puzzle Hunt held from Nov. 10 to 14. Students can work solo or in teams to solve six linguistics puzzles scattered around campus, with the opportunity to win a LALC-themed mug. They also announced signups for the North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad (NACLO) and encouraged students to sign up.
TEDx Curator Mindy Truong (12) and Team Manager Minal Jalil (12) announced the annual TEDx talk will be held on November 14 from 4:30 to 7 p.m. with the theme of Metamorphosis. The event will feature winner of MasterChef USA 2013 Luca Manfé, former VP of Liquid Death Stephen Nilsen and senior Ananya Pradhan. At the start of the event, there will be interactive booths featuring student businesses founded through the Incubator curriculum.
DECA officers Eden Kelly (12), Colin Li (11), Alrisha Chen (10) and Sofe Jalil (10) announced that November is DECA Month, which will feature three alumni takeovers on DECA’s Instagram page. There will be a “Hustle for Muscle” volleyball tournament in the Athletic Center to raise awareness for muscle dystrophy on Wednesday and Friday during long lunch. They also announced a collaboration with FEM Club and the nonprofit Project Glimmer next Tuesday, where students can volunteer to help package feminine hygiene and makeup products for the underserved community.
Student Action Club officers Savitha Satish (12) and Suhana Bhandare (12) and Key Club co-presidents Selina Wang (12) and Celina Xu (12) announced their Community Connect initiative, a collaboration between the two clubs which provides a place for students to spread awareness about their societal concerns through a lunchtime booth and speaking opportunities. They will be hosting two events in collaboration with Harker Tri-M and Camp Campbell in the upcoming two weeks, and they encouraged students in charge of nonprofits or in need of community service hours to sign up.
Harker Physics Club officers Kallie Wang (12), Keira Chang (12) and Lucas Wu (10) announced signups for the annual Harker Physics Invitational on Nov. 16. The event will feature a competition on Zoom with multiple choice problems and one free response question, as well as a speaker event with Harker alumnus and MIT Associate Professor Anand Natarajan (‘09).
Student Diversity Coalition (SDC) representatives Elie Ahluwalia (12) and Dhanya Ramanan (11) announced cultural reminders for November, highlighting Indigenous Peoples’ Month, Transgender Awareness Month and Sikh holy events. They also previewed the Lunch and Learn event on Nov. 10 in Ms. Fernandez’s room and encouraged students with interest in DEI and identity awareness initiatives to attend.
ASB Community Service Committee members Luke Wu (12), Chelsea Xie (11), Ameya Choudhary (10) and Arush Savla (9) announced the addition of three new beanbags in Dobbins and one beanbag in Shah, which bring the total number of beanbags on campus to six.
Upper school head Paul Barsky reminded students to act respectfully in local stories near Harker, as they represent Harker and should remain true to Harker’s values on and off campus.
To wrap up the meeting, Luke announced hot food for the frosh and dismissed students to office hours.
