![“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)
Students in the Probability and Stochastic Processes course gave presentations on applications of stochastic processes on Jan. 13 and 15, marking the conclusion of the class.
Working in groups of two or three, they had 20 minutes to give their prepared presentation, followed by five minutes for a question-and-answer session with their classmates. Groups presented on topics ranging from weather prediction to regime changes to the infectious disease transition
The course, open to all students who had taken one year of math after AP Calculus, was offered for the first time during the 25-26 school year. It provided students with a foundation in probability, covering topics like random variables and random vectors. Students also explored Markov chains and stochastic processes, models of systems that change randomly over time.
“The variety of applications of stochastic processes is fascinating, and the students can certainly speak to that,” Mathematics teacher Anu Aiyer said. “The classic examples are Google’s PageRank algorithm, large language models and finance. But the students also saw other applications, either in class or through the group presentations, from card shuffling and Pokémon Go to more classic examples like martingales and random walks.”
on the game Pokémon Go in Probability and Stochastic Processes. Groups presented on topics ranging from weather prediction to regime changes to the infectious disease transition. (Jonathan Szeto)
Aiyer was inspired to introduce the class as an opportunity to expand her own mathematics knowledge and grow as a teacher. After students in last year’s mathematics courses offered input on topics of interest through a form, she chose to teach stochastic processes. The topic has a wide range of modern applications, including quantitative finance, search engines, and artificial intelligence.
“I enjoyed how difficult the class was,” said senior Jaden Fu, who presented on card shuffling with seniors Caden Ruan and Ritik Raman. “I had to take a lot of time to understand the concepts, and it was a different way of thinking about probability than I had experienced before.”
Aiyer planned the presentations because the time constraints of the semester-long class limited how much time could be spent exploring the many stochastic process applications. She hoped students would learn how the theoretical concepts covered in the course could be used in real life.
“I hope students take away from Probability and Stochastic Processes that with the kind of time-series data that we have access to now, stochastic processes and the way to model that data are going to be more and more prevalent,” Aiyer said. “So just knowing what a Markov chain is sets them apart from everybody else.”
