![“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)
NEW YORK — Junior and senior members of Harker Aquila and the Winged Post delivered presentations at the Columbia Scholastic Press Association Spring Convention at Columbia University on Friday.
Harker journalists presented two workshops to student journalists from across the nation: Humans of Harker’s recurring “Humans of [Your School]” and “Celebrating the Silver Lining,” a new workshop explaining how to cover tough topics. Director of Journalism Whitney Huang, CJE, and Journalist-In-Residence Mark Murray also hosted a photography workshop “Boring Photos? Break out of the Box!”
Winged Post Editor-in-Chief Ashley Mo (12) explained what led the journalism program to create “Celebrating the Silver Lining”.
“This was inspired by the volleyball homecoming alteration,” Ashley said. “This year we’ve dealt with so many new challenges and changes in major events. Throughout my four years of journalism, this is the first time where we’ve included the word ‘history’ in two of our print publications because of how monumental those changes were.”
Aquila and Winged Post Editors-in-Chief Lily Shi (12), Eva Cheng (12) and Ashley Mo (12) and editors Lily Peng (11), Sam Li (11) and Chelsea Xie (11) explained how they covered topics like heavy sports losses, political and social rallies and conflicts between students and administration. Editors gave tips on approaching interviewees experiencing disappointment or hurt and finding optimism despite heavy negativity.
Lincoln High School reporter and Social Media Editor Anika Rigby attended the session. She hopes to apply her takeaways from the session next year as Cardinal Times Opinions Editor to bring positivity to the paper.
Humans of Harker Editor-in-Chief Ella Guo (12) and Managing Editor Victoria Li (11) directed a session entitled “Humans of [Your School].” Humans of Harker is a project founded in 2015 that celebrates the senior class with written profiles and accompanying portraits. The workshop introduced the publication’s concept and how to adapt it to other schools’ journalism programs. Aquila section editors Leah Krupnik (11), Claire Tian (11) and Cynthia Xie (11) joined to explain logistical strategies and environmental portrait technique.
Grady Amick, a news editor from DuPont Manual High School in Louisville, Kentucky, follows the Humans of New York project that inspired Humans of Harker. He attended Harker Journalism’s session and expressed interest in building a “Humans of” project in his own newspaper program.
“When I open Humans of New York, I feel a little bit more connected to humanity,” Grady said. “We’ve lost a lot of that connection, with the internet, with the general despair about where the world seems to be. Anything that brings people back to that, whether it’s in a huge city like New York or in a comparatively little high school, is something I want to hear about.”
Harker journalism attended the 2026 Columbia Scholastic Press Association Spring Convention, staying in New York from Wednesday to Saturday.
