As he and his friends survey the balcony, Arjun Gurjar (12) finally settles on the perfect spot to film. The camera starts to roll and focus in on Arjun as he dives straight into an intriguing mystery dating back to a billion years ago: a story about transpons, one of humanity’s own genes that escaped our cells and brought deadly viral diseases into existence. Soon, the friends gather in a huddle to watch the footage, quickly breaking into a collective hearty laughter when they hear the sound of wind covering Arjun’s voice.

 During his freshman year, Arjun discovered video making and science communication through the Breakthrough Junior Challenge, an annual global science video competition. Video production appeals to Arjun for a number of reasons, but the research and learning involved with the process fuels his passion for videos especially. Such areas involved in video creation allow Arjun to explore new topics, strengthen his grasp on familiar ones and share his discoveries with others. 

“Every single time I’ve thought that I’ve really mastered a topic, there’s another nuance I’ve  discovered about it,” Arjun said. “That’s true for biology, especially, but any topic really. There’s always so many nuances and niche topics that you can learn about. I just love delving into the details of any topic and discovering new worlds of information.”

At any point of the day, he can be found with “300 tabs” open, each of which contain Wikipedia articles. Starting from the day they met, close friend Arjun Moogimane (12) instantly recognized Arjun’s authenticity in his love for learning and care for other people and their interests.

“He’d show genuine interest in other things I was talking about, even when he didn’t know about them, and he’d learn about them,” Arjun Moogimane said. “He would oftentimes come back the next day and know more about it, and I was like, wow, he actually cared enough about what I said to go and figure out what it is I was talking about.”

As Arjun’s outlet for his academic curiosity, videography grants him the opportunity to explore a wide variety of concepts. Through gathering experience in numerous areas, Arjun found his specialty in addressing cutting-edge topics. Arjun observed that such subjects of discussion stir the most misunderstanding, resulting in the need for videos to debunk such misconceptions.

“One of the things I’ve learned through having a YouTube channel is the importance of digital media and dispelling misinformation,” Arjun said. “I think these cutting edge topics really fascinate me, because there’s still a lot of ambiguity around what’s the right way forward. Exploring that and sharing what I’ve learned with others is really rewarding.”

Upper school biology teacher and Health Occupations Students of America club advisor Matthew Harley noticed Arjun’s willingness to confront ambiguous topics, driving lectures and conversations both within the classroom and HOSA club. Despite his eagerness to learn, Arjun always remembers to allow others to contribute first. 

“Arjun was always willing to volunteer,” Dr. Harley said, “He’s one of these students that always waits a beat to see if somebody else will. He doesn’t want to monopolize that time. But if nobody else is ready he’ll look around, and then he’ll raise his hand, and volunteer and answer. Even if it’s something that’s open ended, even if it’s something he’s not sure he’s correct, he’ll still offer a guess.”

Not only does Arjun treasure the rewards of video making, but he also embraces the challenges head on. Navigating difficulties makes video production entertaining and helps him improve on skills such as communication and ingenuity that can be applied to his other interests like research.

“I love creating YouTube videos, because it allows me to research niche topics, but also, I have to keep in mind how to communicate it to other people,” Arjun said. “But then there’s also a creative element of not only weaving an interesting story through all of the information I found in my research, but also creating animations and editing a video to present the content in an engaging manner. I become a better researcher, trying to figure out how to best present a topic as an engaging story while still being accurate.”

Close friend and fellow Downbeat member Sriram Bhimaraju (12) admires Arjun for his bright attitude towards hardship and his willingness to face discomfort. Arjun’s growth in public speaking throughout high school impressed him in particular, as Arjun was courageous in confronting unfamiliar environments to improve his confidence.

“Arjun had a lot of stage fright initially,” Sriram said. “He was a little timid when it came to public speaking,” Sriram said. “He started this YouTube channel, and then he forced himself to become much better at speaking and now he’s an excellent teacher. He auditioned for Downbeat, our show choir, where we perform a dozen times a year, so he really acknowledges where he wants to improve and he works very hard to fix that.”

As another member of Downbeat, close friend Mariana Ryder (12) also witnessed Arjun’s multiple areas of growth, one of which was his personality. From being quiet and reserved when the two met, Arjun now “shines through in every conversation he’s engaged in.”  

“He’s come out of his shell a lot,” Mariana said. “Before he had more hesitation doing things that he loved, but now, he’s much more engaged without worrying about what other people think. He can be in downbeat and be winning crazy bio competitions at the same time, and not think twice. Because that’s who he is now.”

With his natural intellectual curiosity and willingness to step outside of his comfort zone, Arjun has gathered a cornucopia of hobbies. Videos, research, biology, tutoring, singing, and martial arts; Arjun does it all. However, one central theme unifies all his passions.

“I’d say the biggest theme connecting everything I do is constant learning and learning from everyone around me,” Arjun said. “In karate, there’s people who have expertise in different areas, like gymnastics or strength training, and they even have different diverse backgrounds. There’s always something to learn from every single person there, and each person has an area of specialty.”