A thin white bar blinks at the top left of a blank, black box. Cogs turn and possibilities arise in Kabir Ramzan’s (12) mind as the bar sits and flickers, waiting for him to unleash a stream of instructions in code. Moments later, colorful letters unfold across the empty dark. An indent here, a new line there, and within an hour a product sits on the screen, not a story or an essay, but a block of working code. Kabir, seasoned coder of a decade, authors and scrolls through code for hours, driven not by obligation but by dedication as he crafts community-centric projects. 

Since learning the block-based programming language Scratch at the age of seven, Kabir’s familiarity with coding guides him through all of his projects. Self-taught using online tutorials, Kabir spends most of his free time coding ever since he learned his first coding language and has learned upwards of a dozen languages.

“Coding feels like writing in English in a way for me, it became another way of communicating,” Kabir said. “It’s not a chore to write code; it comes naturally.”

Kabir’s affinity for coding and app-making naturally extended into his involvement in robotics, where he assumed leadership of the app development group. With Kabir’s efforts and contributions, the robotics team won an award for their robot data-measuring application Purple Warehouse. Kabir, who was involved in the ideation and development of the app, wanted to expand it into a resource for all teams across the robotics community. 

“I wanted to have a public app and have data sharing between them,” Kabir said. “I had this broader vision for just sharing educational resources. We got a lot of adoption for the app, a lot of users using it, and I think that was something that was really gratifying to see.”

Extending his skills to make an impact, Kabir works to improve the Harker community with his coding knowledge through app development. Having led the publication of a plethora of apps, including HarkerDev’s Bell Schedule, Announcements board and Spirit tracker, all of which are used by many on a daily basis by Harker students and teachers, Kabir’s contributions to improving the lives of those around him are numerous. Students commonly use Bell Schedule to check their schedule or to see if there are any special events happening from day to day. 

“I think he’s one of the most passionate students I know towards the Harker community,” Aarav Borkuthar (11), who worked with Kabir in HarkerDev and Robotics, said. “The work he does for HarkerDev is not for himself. Kabir is someone who really cares for the club more than his own personal gain. A lot of people do things for college apps but he’s someone who actually does care about the community a lot, more than anyone else I know at this school.” 

Upon first entering the upper school, Kabir’s love for coding pushed him to join HarkerDev, a group of coding-passionate app-making students. Member participation slowed at the time of Kabir’s joining in part due to the founders’ graduation and the pandemic. However, in his four years as a student, Kabir worked to revive the productivity and activity of the group. 

“The organization as a whole started becoming less active as I was joining, and that was mainly because that original passion and the vitality of the organization had lost itself over the years,” Kabir said. “When I joined and started getting more involved, my focus was not on doing the same projects we had done before, but pursuing new apps and building these new solutions for people, and generally getting members more motivated for writing code.”

Ascending to a leadership position after sophomore year, Kabir now oversees HarkerDev ideation, projects and code alongside computer science teacher and club advisor Dr. Eric Nelson. After initially only joining as a talented coder, Kabir’s time in the club shaped his involvement within the Harker community as he uses his skills to make a positive impact.

“At this point, in his senior year, he jumps in, and he shows legitimate concern when there are issues that are going to affect the community,” Dr. Nelson said. “Kabir has learned how to delegate as well as listen to the folks that are working for and with him. He has turned into somebody who I respect and trust at this point in time, to the point where I have no trouble having him interact directly with the IT group or members of the administration.”

Not only does Kabir demonstrate leadership and care towards his peers, teachers and community through his coding-related ambitions in HarkerDev, he also contributes to the community in everything else he does. With leadership positions in both Student Council and Orchestra, Kabir extends his talents and efforts into all of his endeavors.

“Kabir was elected this year for Student Council and he’s been really on top of things,” fellow Student Council member Harshini Chaturvedula (12) said. “During our council meetings, he is on track and always reminds us. If we ever want to leave early, he makes sure we stay and finish up whatever we’re talking about. He always has those reminders for us to double check everything to do.”

Kabir’s many responsibilities are not always easy to handle though: HarkerDev’s more complex projects can take up to a year or more, such as the currently-developing Activities app. Moreover, coding may not always come as a smooth process, with many projects being scrapped before they reach the deployment phase. Still, Kabir finds the experience wholly rewarding, whether in the simple pleasures of just coding or in peoples’ reactions to the finished result.

“There’s a combination of emotions,” Kabir said. “There’s the frustration when you encounter a bug, but there’s also that satisfaction when you overcome it. Most of the time, I usually don’t want to give up on a project, like maybe we’ll put it on the back burner and come back to it later and have a fresh perspective on it. It’s really gratifying, the joy of seeing your app work and the joy of seeing other people using your app.”

Fueled by passion and a dedication to helping others, what had started as a penchant for coding since made Kabir a member of his community in his own way through his contributions through the apps he helps to bring online but also his leadership. Kabir places his efforts into improving all corners of life for those around him. 

“It’s fulfilling to help others in a meaningful way and see the positive impact I’ve been able to make on my community,” Kabir said. “My experience has shown me the potential of technology to make a positive impact on society, and that inspires me to keep writing code to solve problems and help others. It’s gratifying to see something that I’ve built make a difference in people’s lives.”