![“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)
Eagle Update hosts Charlotte Ludlow (12) and Pedro Castro III (11) commenced school meeting by naming varsity boys baseball player Shaurya Jain (11) and varsity swimming athlete Dennis Bi (10) Athletes of the Week. They also gave shoutouts to the varsity boys tennis, volleyball, golf and baseball teams for their recent winning streaks.
Conservatory representatives Mindy Truong (12), Jessica Skylar Chen (11), Léa Kandl-Zhang (11), Anya Lu (10) and Aarya Vaidya (10) recapped the choirs’ trip to New York over Spring Break, where they performed at the New York Heritage Choral Festival. Capriccio won Highest Scoring Ensemble across all divisions and senior Wendy Liu received the Maestro Award. Furthermore, Harker earned the highest combined score of all three ensembles nationwide, earning an invitation to perform at Carnegie Hall.
The representatives also shared that auditions for Capriccio and Downbeat will be this week, with the only requirement being to have sung in a choir for at least one year.
Jewish Affinity Group officers Shaina Cohen (12) and Abby Rose Sachse (11) announced that Holocaust Remembrance Week will be taking place next week, as the holiday Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) is on April 14. During the week, they will hold multiple awareness events such as putting up flags around campus. English teacher Ohad Paran will speak about his grandparents’ experiences as Holocaust survivors at the memorial after school on Thursday.
Civics students Luke Wu (12), Maya Horan (10) and Samantha Teachworth (10) shared that voter registration for the upcoming ASB election will be taking place on April 20. They emphasized the importance of youth turnout, pointing out this year’s 45% voter turnout for the annual AP Government election. They also invited students to volunteer for various civic engagement opportunities, like doing outreach and staffing tables for the League of Women Voters.
ASB Community Service Committee members Ameera Ramzan (11), Chelsea Xie (11) and Sophia Zhu (11) played a video introducing Martha’s Kitchen. The organization provides an opportunity for students to help prepare food and clean eating areas in underserved communities, and the nonprofit aims to prevent food waste and serve others. The Harker fundraiser, where students can donate canned food, will be taking place on April 14 and April 16 during long lunch.
HELM co-Editors-in-Chief Carissa Wu (12) and Ariel Zhang (12) announced that the 27th volume of HELM, “Stray,” would be available for pickup during lunch in front of Manzanita Hall on Monday. They then introduced Santa Clara County Poet Laureate and 2024 Creative Ambassador of San Jose City Yosimar Reyes for National Poetry Month. He read out two of his poems, “Yo Soy” and “A Place of Our Own,” and introduced himself and his mission: to show togetherness, connection and the importance of caring for one’s family. He led a poetry session in the multi-purpose room after school meeting.
To wrap up the school meeting, Luke announced the Student Events Committee and French National Honor Society’s collaboration event, Crêpe Day. Following school meeting during office hours, the committee and FNHS members served crêpes with a variety of toppings and distributed paper fish for the French holiday “Poisson d’Avril.” Similar to April Fools, the holiday involves pranking friends by sticking paper fish on them without their knowledge.
