![“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 — Twenty-seven journalism students and staff toured The New York Times Building with News Page Designer John Grippe today.
Grippe explained the logistics of New York Times page design, walking students through the process of building and arranging pieces for publication. After exchanging copies of the Saturday newspaper for Winged Post issues, Grippe shared his typical workflow from receiving story assignments to designing page spreads with Cue Print.
“I really liked when we were in the conference room and he showed us the apps they use to compile their pages,” A&E/Lifestyle editor Chelsea Xie (11) said.” It was super cool how efficient he was and it showed how many years of experience he had. I enjoyed the chance to ask him about specific design nuances of The New York Times.”
Grippe led students through a tour of the building, bringing the group to Pulitzer Hall, where the publication’s Pulitzer Prizes are displayed — including a page he designed himself. He also introduced them to the Museum at the Times, an exhibition featuring notable New York Times artifacts and works.
“One of the things I found very impressive was even back in the 2000s and the 1990s, they had spreads that looked almost as phenomenal as the ones that The New York Times is producing now,” Winged Post Editor-in-Chief Tiffany said. “It’s crazy to see how print newspaper has such an impact on people’s lives.”
To provide students a glimpse into how the Times staff work, Grippe led the group through staff members’ offices and workspaces. Flat-screen TVs playing the news from different stations and taped-up schedules on whiteboards allowed the students to see the commitment that goes into each article and newspaper issue.
“It was super eye-opening because I never really knew what the inside of any journalism publication might look like,” Chelsea said. “It was really nice having someone who was actually working inside the New York Times to give us the tour because it was definitely different hearing an insider perspective than us just walking around.”
Grippe ended the tour by encouraging the staff to continue their pursuit of journalism and to keep striving for better work.
“I hope you can take away the values of freedom and democracy,” Grippe said. “You’re doing great work, and it’s especially important in this day and age, so I hope you keep this up.”
