For Varun Baldwa (12), helping other people around him has been his focus and passion, and he tries to volunteer as much as possible to assist others.

“I started a nonprofit called Kidz Kode to teach underprivileged kids the basics of programming,” Varun said. “This was a good mix of my passion for programming and also my desire to help those around me.”

Varun says that he finds happiness within himself, but through avenues such as volunteering, he also finds happiness within making other people happy.

“The happiness of others makes me happy,” Varun said. “That’s not to say that I can’t be happy on my own, but a lot of times, seeing those I care about in a good state makes me improve my own.”

Helping other people has a lasting effect on Varun, as he has been able to see new perspectives and find differences between theirs and his.

“It’s not that I’m only helpful when it’s to help other people,” he said. “Through helping others, I’ve learned to be a lot more open-minded and just mindful of what people around me are thinking.”

Apart from volunteering, Varun tries to pick up as many hobbies as possible and grow out of his shell to find new opportunities.

“Obviously, if I’m empty-handed, I have nothing to do, which only leads me to do new things,” Varun said. “Other than that, I like taking photos and listening to music as a means of linking my expression with art forms. I think it helps me get a better sense of self, and it’s also a fun process to go through.”

Varun also focuses on trying new activities that he has always thought about but has never done and getting to know more people during his last year on campus.

“I’m at the same place with so many kids, and I haven’t talked to so many of them in my life,” Varun said.” I made a little bucket list with my friends and one of our goals is to sit at a new lunch table every day of second semester, so we’re definitely gonna make an effort to leave an impact on the campus and to get to know the people around us.”