Whether it’s painting on a canvas or organizing volunteering activities, Ryan Chen meticulously plans each step, focusing on every last detail.

“I’m really big on organization and I keep a really strict schedule,” Ryan said. “I think it’s important to think ahead because you don’t know what might happen, so it’s good to plan and get things done early just in case something happens.”

Ryan’s passion for volunteer work stems from his experience helping out at a senior center in Palo Alto with his friends in his sophomore year. A year later, they decided to create their own volunteer organization, called STEM Empowerment, to teach and aid students at Cesar Chavez Middle School every week.

“You see a lot of variety in people, but you realize that maybe they’re not so different from Harker students [besides] the background they grew up in, and I gained a lot of respect for that,” Ryan said. “There’s a certain feeling of accomplishment [afterwards] because you see these students you help learn more and get better at whatever they were struggling with. You almost end up having a friendship with them.”

These volunteer experiences, in which Ryan gained an interest in helping others, along with his focus in science at school, eventually made him decide that he wanted to pursue a career into the medical field in the future.

“I want to go to medical school eventually, and I feel like service is a big part of being a doctor,” he said. “You have to want to help people in order to be good at what you do. You have to enjoy your job to do well.”

One of Ryan’s other main extracurricular activities is art. He enjoys being able to express his ideas in a variety of ways, whether through sketching, watercoloring or oil painting.

“Art gives you a lot of freedom to just mess with things,” he said. “You can do anything you want almost, but yet at certain times, there’s some form to it but there is also flexibility.”

Ryan believes his approach to art and his artistic technique are a reflection of his own personality. Similar to how he organizes and orders school tasks carefully, he draws with precision and attention to detail.

“When I draw, I have a tendency of being really meticulous,” he said. “I like a lot of detail in my drawings, so usually I draw really slowly because I enjoy adding details to it.”

Albert Pun (12), a close friend of Ryan’s and a member of the team which founded STEM Empowerment, described Ryan as a reliable friend who has grown a lot since the beginning of high school.

“Ryan has always been a hard worker in high school, but he has really matured and become a great friend and an altruistic contributor to his community,” Albert said.

Despite Ryan’s busy schedule and different activities, he still believes that spending time with his friends is what makes him most happy.

“Just hanging out with friends and seeing my friends doing some really stupid or funny things makes me laugh,” he said. “I think that [being with friends] is pretty important.”