![“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)
Upper school students voted Sophia Zhu (11), Nicole Dean (11), Amber Wang (10), Avi Gupta (10) and Cameron Jones (11) for President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and Spirit Coordinator, respectively, in the 2026-27 Associated Student Body (ASB) elections on Tuesday.
With an 89.94% voter turnout, juniors, sophomores and frosh cast their votes through an online voting form on OpaVote, which opened during advisory and closed at 3:30 p.m. The candidates participated in a panel-style town hall on April 10, where they answered various questions about their leadership experience and plans for the upcoming school year.
ASB President Sophia ran against Ameera Ramzan (11) and hopes to increase communication between the student body and ASB by implementing more features to the suggestion box and hosting regular meetings with the Campus Leadership Coalition (CLC).
“Our ASB team for the next year already feels like a family,” Sophia said. “Definitely for next year, I’m looking forward to that family dynamic on our ASB team because the closer we are, the better we can work together and the better we can serve our student body.”
ASB Vice President Nicole, who ran unopposed, believed the role would allow her to engage with a wide range of initiatives because of its flexibility. Not only does she want to create structural changes within ASB itself, but Nicole also hopes to incorporate student voice by keeping up with the suggestion box.
“I’m hoping to implement a lot of internal reforms, for example, semester review of committees to keep everybody accountable and to give everybody a period of self-reflection,” Nicole said. “I want to do some training for underclassmen, especially because there’s a lot of bureaucracy that people don’t understand at first, so they can have a better foundation to get started with.”
ASB Secretary Amber faced off against Dyuthi Vallamsetty (10) and pledged to fulfill the promises she made in her campaign, like building transparency with surveys and adding a tab for school meeting notes to the ASB website. She also aims to modify the two-test policy in collaboration with the school administration, making lab practicals and extended timed writings count as tests.
“Overall, I want the atmosphere for the student body to be something where the student body can trust leadership and is comfortable talking to leadership,” Amber said. “That’s one thing that ASB can improve — I feel like a lot of people don’t really know what ASB does or aren’t really involved in the different principles or ideas about ASB.”
ASB Treasurer Avi, who ran against Andrew Shin (11), emphasized his experience managing budgets during his past years on student council, explaining how he organized finances and logistics for fundraisers. He outlined his plans to include more club-led schoolwide events and budget breakdowns.
“I hope to make the school year about getting what the school community wants and building a more transparent and cohesive community,” Avi said. “Specifically, I want to shed more light on budget transparency and ensuring we make smart purchases that benefit everyday student life. I want to serve my school with the largest impact in a way that is most suited to their interests.”
ASB Spirit Coordinator Cameron ran against Megha Unny (11) and commented on his plans to improve the spirit system by making clearer rubrics and ensuring spirit committees had equal workloads.
“In the past few years, spirit leadership has been a really big part of my time at school, and I thought I was in a really good place to continue that as spirit coordinator, and I can help a lot with improving the systems we have now,” Cameron said. “Next year, I’m sure all the classes are going to elect great Student Activity Boards (SAB), so I’m excited to get to know all of them and work with them.”
The newly elected ASB will begin their positions in August of the 2026-27 school year. The results concluded one month of campaigning, during which candidates answered written questions and posted flyers around campus. Primary rounds occurred on March 19, and two candidates from each position advanced.
![“Probably the most important thing that I can do is to help raise awareness amongst youth because [students] are the ones that sadly are going to inherit this mess. It’s important for us, the people who helped take the planet to the place it is now, to really lean in and make a difference about this issue," Moss said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/DSC_9315-e1778880890147-1200x873.jpg)
