![“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)
Liana Barooah, Sports and Photo Editor: Students, parents and community members attended the 20th annual Harker Research Symposium themed Next Gen Medicine, which is organized by the Women in Stem (WiSTEM) Club on April 11. at the Upper School. The Harker community enjoyed a day filled with student led research presentations, interactive exhibits, and discussions spanning a wide range of scientific disciplines.
Anita Chetty, Upper school science department chair: The primary organizers of the Harker Research Symposium is WiSTEM. That is one of WiSTEM’s mandates. It is why I created WiSTEM in 2008. It was to show that women can be strong leaders. They can empower other people to pursue an interest in STEM fields, so they are the logical choice to be the primary organizers. It takes, one month of really concentrated effort, on the part of WiSTEM which works on everything from, developing STEM Buddies activities all the way to moderating sessions.
Liana: throughout the program, The day featured three keynote speakers who delivered talks spaced throughout the program along with student poster sessions and interactive STEM workshops. During lunch, a science magic show was held in the Athletic Center, incorporating flame tricks to entertain the audience.
Anusha Kotalwar (9), WiSTEM Member: STEM Buddies was really fun for me because it was nice to bond with kids that were all ages and people that were especially younger as well, and I think it was really fun to see them having fun as well. And teaching them how to do different science experiments. And I also did STEM buddies in the past outside of Symposium. So I think it was really fun to connect with the kids.
Liana: In the evening, multiple upperclassmen gave formal talks on their specific projects in different classrooms in the Nichols Auditorium. To end the day, six student researchers constituted a panel answering common questions for high schoolers trying to gain experience in the researching field.
Linda Zeng (12), WiSTEM President: Yeah, I hope they realize that the sky’s the limit. You can be in ninth grade and do amazing research and advance the frontier. You can be in first grade and already be learning about science through these fun STEM Buddies activities playing with oobleck, kinetic sand. And you can be an alumni that’s ten years graduated and come back and be able to teach and share everything. So yeah, the sky’s the limit. Research is not just for undergrads or for grad students, but it’s for high schoolers like us.
