![“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)
Oeconomia, Harker’s economics society, hosted a competition between economics teachers Dean Lizardo and Samuel Lepler with AP Microeconomics and Macroeconomics questions as part of Econ Week in the Nichols Auditorium on Tuesday.
The teachers tied at the end of three rounds, but Oeconomia officers crowned Lizardo the champion because more of his students attended the event.
“It was really fun to see people getting excited about the game — that’s what matters,” Lizardo said. “In particular, I just really liked trying to struggle through questions under a time crunch. That really makes you respect the whole testing process, honestly, because our kids have to deal with it all the time.”
In the first round, Oeconomia officers read aloud twenty total questions related to AP Economics concepts like crowding out and monetary policy, and the first teacher to answer correctly was awarded one point. Lizardo and Lepler’s scores stayed close throughout the entire round and ultimately tied 10-10.
Oeconomia presidents Amishi Gupta (12) and Cyrus Ghane (12) supervised the matches and moderated the quiz bowl tournament.
“The quiz bowl was really fun,” Amishi said. “Obviously, I liked the last moment with the moment of solidarity between Mr. Lizardo and Mr. Lepler when they were close with times in buzzing, because they gave each other the win. That’s the whole point of the event: to have friendly competition, but everyone learns at the end.”
Audience members instructed Lizardo and Lepler on how to draw various economic graphs, like the production possibilities curve and Phillips curve, during the second round. Students shouted “yes” or “no” depending on whether the teachers’ drawings were correct, with Oeconomia officers tracking the total time taken to complete the graphs.
For the final round, each teacher was given 45 total seconds to identify economics terms like deadweight loss and opportunity cost, with the timer alternating after each answered correctly. Lepler ended the round winning by one second.
Oeconomia Equilibrium managing editor sophomore Teresa Song attended the event to represent the organization and to learn more about economics.
“I wanted to see them for entertainment purposes and my own education,” Teresa said. “I hope [audience members] feel more prepared for their APs. It was nice to see how excited they were, and they were cheering a lot for their teachers.”
