![“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), Anika Basu (11), Megha Unny (11) and Emma Zhou (10) commenced school meeting by commending the four orchestra members who qualified for the California All-State Music Education Conference and the five Capriccio vocalists who will attend All-State Honor Choir from Jan. 15 to 17. They named sophomore Ellen Zhang as Conservatory Student of the Month for her performance as Miss Scarlet in “Clue.”
Eagle Updates hosts Pedro Castro (11) and Charlotte Ludlow (12) announced cross country runner Sophie Shen (9) as athlete of the week, celebrating her qualification for the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) State Championship. They also recognized Alejandro Cheline (12) for leading in number of blocks and Ian Cheline (11) for goals scored in water polo CCS categories.
Writer’s Advocate President Maddie Avila (11) and Harker Eclectic Literature and Media Co-Editor-in-Chief Ariel Zhang (12) presented the Writers Award, a new contest which will accept submissions in nonfiction, fiction and poetry for gift card prizes until Dec. 19. They stressed that AI-generated pieces or writing from Harker classes are strictly prohibited.
Mythology Club President Sathvik Vemulapalli (12) announced that submissions for the November mythology newsletter are open, with the theme of Hindu mythology.
Data Science Club Co-Presidents Isabelle Niu (11) and Lily Peng (11) announced a Fireside Chat with former U.S. Chief Data Scientist DJ Patil during lunch on Nov. 20.
Flight Crew juniors Jessica Chen, Kayla Chen and Evan Yuan presented upcoming events for De-stress Month. Flight Crew will host pajama-themed activities on Nov. 20 and petting zoo events on Dec. 3 and Dec. 9.
Harker Spirit Leadership Team juniors Alice Luo and Megha Unny revealed the winners of HSLT’s Halloween costume contest. They awarded junior Stellan Lindh with funniest costume, senior Nat Tan with most creative, seniors Maryanne Davies and Nandini Chandrashekhar with best duo, and seniors Timmy Chen, Albert Yao and Kairui Sun with best group. Lana Tariq (11) and Neva Praun-Petrovic (9) tied for best overall costume. They also named honorable mentions highlighted creative teacher costumes.
HarkerDev Co-Presidents Adrian Roufas (11) and Demi Zheng (11) announced their launch of the ASB website, which tracks Campus Leadership Coalition initiatives and resources, school meeting agendas and upcoming events. The website includes a suggestion box that allows students to vote on measures approved by ASB and individual pages for each grade’s student council. Students can email HarkerDev to report issues.
ASB Treasurer Nicole Dean (11) announced an formal attire swap collaboration Student Council is currently working on with Los Gatos High School and asked students to fill out an interest form for the event.
Nicole announced hot food for sophomores and closed the meeting.
