![“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)
Over 100 students, parents and coaches gathered for the speech and debate team’s annual banquet honoring its senior members in Nichols Atrium on Thursday.
Fifteen underclassmen commemorated graduating upperclassmen through speeches filled with shared memories at tournaments, moments where seniors shared advice and inside jokes that kept the crowd laughing.
Speech coach David Kilpatrick addressed the attendees at the banquet’s closing to summarize the evening.
“Something I heard in so many of the speeches is that this class leads by example,” Kilpatrick said. “There are so many students we have here who are unbelievably talented in their events and yet so humble, never brag about their success, always encourage their teammates and never make someone who isn’t doing as well feel like they’re not a real, excellent, important part of the team.”
Before the ceremony, senior Kallie Wang reflected on her seven year journey to being captain of the speech team. Kallie had joined Intermediate Speech in frosh year after being drawn to how speech allowed her to select her own areas of interest to explore.
“A lot of my first impressions of speech came from watching upperclassmen and seeing the really welcoming team culture,” Kallie said. “We spend a lot of time eating dinner together, talking, sitting next to each other on flights. The shared time together has definitely made speech a lot like a second family to me, something that will be very hard to replace in my life as I go off to college next year.”
In addition to student speakers, the banquet featured guest speaker Avi Gulati (‘20). In 2019, he won the national Tournament of Champions for Original Oratory, where each competitor prepares a 10-minute speech on a chosen topic for each year.
After graduation, Gulati attended Harvard University and eventually worked an electrical engineering job. In his address at the banquet, he shared an anecdote about being asked on short notice on the way back from a business trip to deliver a speech at his company Etched’s Monday meeting. Gulati’s meeting address drew praise from peers and management alike, reminding him how the skills he built delivering oratories in high school would continue to bring tangible impact, despite an occupation that seemingly did not demand strong speaking skills.
“Speaking in front of others and synthesizing your arguments and sharing your opinions is a really brave and difficult thing to do,” Gulati said. “The more we do it, I think the more human we become. We connect with others. We disagree with them. These are things that will persist: the importance of sharing your ideas in a communicable and comprehensible way.”
Debate coach Greg Achten also celebrated all the parents in attendance for supporting the students’ speech and debate journeys. Speech senior Albert Yao’s father Gary Yao thought speech benefitted students by giving a rigorous training in communication.
“I really appreciate this program,” Yao said. “It teaches the kids to be fully able to express themselves. When I emigrated to the United States, I saw that there was a gap in training. I was skilled in the technical side [of things], but there was a shortage in presentation and in speech. So as a parent, I don’t want Albert to just chase achievements [in speech]. The most important thing is the practice he gets.”
Junior Nikhil Bawa noted that receiving guidance from the senior class on navigating debate’s complex interactions was a core theme of debaters’ speeches, from Manan Gupta (11) thanking Krish Goenka (12) for teaching at a middle school summer debate camp to Siddartha Daswani (11) thanking Angelina Antony (12) for explaining a non-topical affirmative.
“The seniors have been great community leaders that we’ve looked up to since middle school,” Nikhil said. “They’ve always advocated for centralizing team preparation and making it inclusive, making sure that truly everyone can understand arguments better so that they produce a better future for the team.”
