![“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)
Math Club achieved success at the Berkeley Math Tournament (BMT) on Nov. 9, with 33 students receiving Honorable Mentions and 26 earning Distinguished Honorable Mentions, including junior Elaine Xu and sophomore Andrew Shi, who placed eighth and sixth in Calculus and Discrete Mathematics, respectively on Nov. 9.
Team Harker Omega, consisting of juniors Sylvia Chen, Kristiyan Kurtev, Jonathan Li, Helena Liang, Lily Peng and Elaine Xu, earned second place in the Power Round and ninth place in the overall ranking. This is the first time since 2018 that any Harker team has achieved a top-10 overall finish at BMT and the first time since 2019 that any Harker team has ranked in the top 10 for any team round. Math Club President Jonathan Li reflects on the victory.
“We were pretty shocked,” Jonathan said. “I wasn’t really expecting at all. I didn’t really think we had any chance of placing, but somehow it happened. We were very surprised, but also obviously really happy.”
BMT engages participants through three rounds, each requiring a distinct set of skills. The Power Round, lasting 90 minutes, is a proof-based team round that challenges contestants to delve into topics not commonly found in high school contests like the American Mathematics Competition (AMC). Teams are required to provide detailed justification for their answers, with the past two years’ topics being origami and graph theory proofs.
“The problems this year were interesting, and the theme for the power round was really cool,” sophomore competitor Rachel Li said. “I worked with my team, and we had to build physical things to solve the problems. We also wrote a lot of proofs. Proofs are like puzzles, since you already know the answer and you just have to figure out how to get there.”
Each contestant also participated in the Individual Round, where they could choose between taking the General Test or two focus tests. The General Test included a variety of questions intended for those with less prior contest experience, while the focus tests allowed students to dive deeper into subjects like Algebra, Geometry, Discrete Mathematics and Calculus. Rachel participated in the General Test and noted the challenges she faced.
“I got kind of mad because I was bashing this random geometry problem and could not figure it out,” Rachel said. “There were also a bunch of ‘67’ references for no reason.”
The tournament concluded with the Guts Round, which consists of nine increasingly difficult sets of three problems each. Jonathan Li expressed how the intensity of this round contributes to its appeal.
“The Guts Round is the best out of all three rounds, since it’s collaborative and you get to try out new strategies as a team,” said Jonathan. “There is also a live scoreboard, which adds to the suspense.”
Back on the Harker Campus, Math Club adviser Anu Aiyer placed the BMT plaques that Harker earned above her desk, reflecting her pride in the student’s achievements. She emphasizes that the success of the Math Club truly belongs to the students and their efforts.
“What I enjoy seeing is the students talking about the problems after the tests,” Dr. Aiyer said. “Part of doing these team competitions is students wanting to talk about the problems. ‘Okay, you know what, how did you solve it?’ kind of thing. What I was most pleased by was that students were able to attempt or solve a lot of the problems, which is great. The credit goes to the students always.”
