Head bobbing to the bass of his first tune, Ayan Nath (12) remembers the earliest song he made, an announcement to keep backpacks within green lines so that students would not trip over them. Middle-school Ayan realized that, if he presented a standard, clinical warning, students wouldn’t listen — so he worked with student council to make a music video in which students could lean in with rapt attention. Parodying Zayn Malik and Taylor Swift’s “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever,” Ayan jammed to the announcement with gusto.

Being part of student council as the current Associated Student Body (ASB) vice president and the former class vice president in his sophomore and junior years, Ayan has continued making short, entertaining videos full of laughter and takeaways for the school community, a way to entertain the students and give them a fun way of hearing about school announcements.

“I live and come to school almost every day,” Ayan said. “So I like giving myself an opportunity to make changes, or if I have some ideas, to actually enact them. It’s very nice to work with administration and students — [but also] to be in a position where I can step back and let the people who are more experienced and are more directly affected take the lead role.”

Even outside his position of leadership, when Ayan walks through the world as a student learning from his teachers, Ayan prioritizes and enjoys connecting with the community around him beyond the academic day. He remembers showing upper school English teacher Christopher Hurshman his Legos and learning about Hurshman’s background in France, as Hurshman was raised there for some time.

“I love having discussions with my teachers — they are always willing to talk to you,” Ayan said. “I remember I was showing Mr. Hurshman a Lego [structure] over quarantine of the Eiffel tower, a model I made. He told me that I actually got a few things wrong, so then I went back and fixed it. Teachers are much more knowledgeable beyond what they teach — they know a lot about life.”

After school became remote during the outbreak of COVID-19 in the county, Ayan used the extra time he had to start making his own original songs with close friend and neighbor Arnav Dani (12), who organizes the instrumentals as Ayan sings and writes lyrics. The duo have released 21 songs and garnered over 102,000 streams.

“It’s a fun, creative thing that we do together,” Arnav said. “I’ve learned more about [Ayan] through [the activity]: any creative endeavor, from a mental and a technical standpoint, is difficult at first. I’ve truly seen him grow in terms of the ability to manipulate [music-making] software but also in his ability to really perfect his craft and get better at what he does.”

Making songs gives Ayan the chance to hold something in his hands that is his own — to experiment with his creativity in the meshing of words, sound and rhythm. Collaborating with other students means that Ayan can nurture a product with others — a shared and sparkling creation.

“I like creating things — it’s very nice to know that for what I made, nobody else in the entire world has made the exact same thing,” Ayan said. “It’s uniquely my own product that I’m making.”

As team manager of the varsity boys basketball team, Ayan has fond memories of singing on the bus: making a chorus together. He loves bonding with the players as they travel to and from basketball games.

“It’s been really fun,” Ayan said. “We’ve been able to go to the practices, we’ve been able to bond to the team and they’ve been very nice to us. Even though we’re managers, they still treat us as part of the team. They still make fun of us like they make fun of all other players. We have a good time on the buses singing to and from games.”

Legos give Ayan another environment for exploring how to exercise his visions and create structures that are his own. Building his Legos by hand or through online simulation platforms like BrickLink, Ayan experiments with ways to create his own space and makes his own designs for the final architecture of the blocks. He sells these designs in the form of online manuals.

“It’s really fun to build other people’s designs and work and collaborate with other people whether it be through Legos or music,” Ayan said. “I don’t really like the official Legos designs, because some of them are underdeveloped. What I did on my own is I developed [my own design] using a design software on my computer. I buy and sell [the Legos and instruction manuals] though it’s not as lucrative as stocks.”

Shrey Khater (12), Ayan’s close friend of three years, finds Ayan to be incredibly friendly. Even if he’s not particularly skilled at an activity, he will give it his full effort and be willing to try new things.

“Anyone he sees, he’ll come up to talk to them and make everyone smile, make everyone’s day better,” Shrey said. “He has really joyful energy.”

Hurshman first taught Ayan when he was a middle schooler studying expository writing over the summer and later had him as a sophomore student in British Literature. As dean of the sophomore class, Hurshman saw Ayan work as a sophomore student council member and has seen him embrace his leadership over the years.

Hurshman appreciates Ayan’s openness, his willingness to take risks and ask questions without hesitating or being worried about what his peers would think of him. Hurshman has watched Ayan grow, putting himself out there in service of the community, building bonds with others and encouraging others to bond with each other or talk to each other more.

“The whole year that we were on Zoom, his willingness to speak up and say something goofy during a class meeting broke the ice during awkward silences,” Hurshman said. “I admire that he’s willing to do that — [to think] ‘I have a thought. I can share it.’ That takes a lot of everyday courage.”