![“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)
Four alumni startup founders participated in a panel discussion about their career journeys, artificial intelligence and advice for students in the Nichols Auditorium on Saturday.
Panelists included Preston Ellis (’21), co-founder of cryptocurrency trading platform Axiom; Jason Lin (’21), co-founder of AI language translator Mida; Dawson Chen (’22), co-founder of AI customer support tool Letterbook; and Alex Lan (’23), co-founder of AI adoption management platform Agora. Alka Tandan, a middle school alum and former CFO of Gainsight, moderated the panel.
“I think it was important to give an honest take on what we think,” Lan said. “You see so much stuff online — what people try to impress upon other people about how startups should be. We’re just here to give our real feedback on how the journey’s been.”
Three of the panelists dropped out of college to pursue entrepreneurship, and so higher education — its risks, rewards and pitfalls — formed a large portion of the discussion. At the same time, the panelists spoke about how to successfully work with a co-founder, find mentors and maintain work-life balance amid growing career demands. Attendee Alvin Siamwalla (10) found their anecdotes and tips particularly helpful in considering his own career plans.
“One of the panelists said that locking yourself in a basement and only doing work isn’t really worthwhile,” Alvin said. “It’s more important to build connections and to talk with customers. This event definitely helped me a lot because I might be looking at entrepreneurship or something tech-related for my future, and a lot of this advice is very useful for me.”
Attendee Aanya Shah (’26) also appreciated the panelists’ message that turning ideas into concrete results takes persistence.
“Conviction was something that all of the panelists agreed is one of the most important parts of being a founder,” Shah said. “All of them also emphasized putting yourself in positions where you are continuously learning. And that’s something I want to keep in mind when approaching my own college education, making sure that I’m always challenging myself.”
While Harker has hosted alumni panels in the past, this event was the first to be marketed directly to students to ask their questions.
Alumni Relations Director Caren Furtado helped plan the event after it was proposed by Harker parent Ajoy Bhambani and found the panelists’ advice about ambition particularly intriguing.
“Some things you can only hear from a founder,” Furtado said. “For instance, what is your ambition, really? A lot of people say ambition is, ‘We’ve found this problem, and we need to solve it.’ But these panelists were just like, ‘We just want to start something that is our own.’ So it’s OK to do that as well, and the world has room for it — that’s something you can only hear in this setting.”
Lan credited his Harker education with fostering the grit necessary to be a successful founder. He encouraged students to take advantage of all of the resources the school offers.
“Harker teaches you to work hard right away,” Lan said. “That baseline makes people pretty ambitious, pretty driven. And the support system is incredible. When you go to college, you’ll realize very few college classes have just 15 people really engaged and involved, where you have great access to your teachers.”
