![“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)
Harker Robotics reached the lower bracket semifinals alongside alliance partners EagleForce Robotics from Pleasant Grove High School and Barn2Robotics from Woodside Priory School at the 2026 Sacramento District Event. The competition took place at Pleasant Grove High School from Mar. 20 to 22 and featured nearly 40 teams from across California.
At the end of the event, the team was additionally recognized with the Judge’s Award, which honors unique contributions to the FIRST core values of discovery, innovation, impact, inclusion, teamwork and fun through actions on and off the playing field. Operations President Aanika Kapoor (11) commented on the award’s significance to the team.
“Winning the Judge’s Award was a great moment to really appreciate how much work we put in and see that we were getting back from it,” Aanika Kapoor said. “This competition, we launched the Purple Baazar, a place where teams can put in information about the parts they have. When people are looking for specific materials they need, they can look and see where it might be — it also helps with sustainability by trading parts that teams may not use in the future.”
On load-in day, Mar. 20, the team set up their tools and got their robot, Kirby, inspected. Mechanical and software issues plagued Kirby on Mar. 21, the first day of competition, resulting in a 3-5 qualification record entering day two. The following day, a more favorable schedule paired with late-night bug fixes and inventive mechanical modifications propelled Harker Robotics to four consecutive qualification wins and a rank of 10th heading into alliance selections. Captaining the sixth-seeded alliance, they chose Eagleforce with their first pick and Barn2Robotics with their second.
Mechanical subteam member Vivaan Sahay (10) reflected on his experience at his first robotics competition. He highlighted the open and collaborative nature of FRC as particularly memorable.
“I was a bit nervous at first, but I had a lot of fun at the competition; the matches were exciting, especially during the playoffs,” said Vivaan. “In the pits, I enjoyed getting a chance to talk with like-minded people about their robots, which they had spent a lot of work building. I learned a lot more about what goes into the design process for a robot by talking to other teams and by looking at our own robot.”
Harker’s alliance was knocked into the lower bracket by the second-seeded alliance but quickly rebounded with a victory over the seventh-seeded alliance. A loss to the fourth-seeded alliance ended their run at the event.
This year’s FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) challenge, REBUILT, drew inspiration from previous years’ games. In REBUILT, three-team alliances score points by launching yellow foam balls representing fuel into six-foot-tall hoppers dubbed “hubs” and ascending towering steel ladders. Executive President Brenna Ren (12) described the team’s plans leading up to their next competition, which starts in just over a week. She focused on modifications intended to make Kirby’s shooting more efficient and reliable.
“Our performance was worse than we expected because of some major issues with our code and mechanisms,” she said. “Things we’d tested at our practice field didn’t always work, and we identified big areas for improvement in our shooter, intake and indexer. We’re also looking into code changes that’ll improve our robot’s accuracy and make bugs easier to spot.”
Harker Robotics will next compete at the Contra Costa District Event from April 2 to April 4.
