Quiet rustling of pages flipping. The orderly nature of the shelves. A list of books requested. For senior Jas Ahluwalia, the joy of the library lies not only in its stories and atmosphere, but also in its organization.

Jas began volunteering at his local library junior year after seeing a sign asking for help. He assisted with tasks like inspecting book quality and locating books placed on hold. Although the work initially felt daunting, Jas approached it as an opportunity to grow emotionally.

“Something might seem hard at first, but you’re going to get through it, especially if you develop that community relationship with other people,” Jas said. “My whole life, the community has given a lot to me. The only thing I can do at my age is give back to my library, which I grew up getting books from.”

Despite initially fearing being judged by other library staff members, Jas found that the best way to connect with people was through a barrage of questions. After volunteering with the library staff over time, he bonded with them on a deeper level beyond library-related tasks.

“I developed a pretty good relationship with the staff,” Jas said. “It’s not just asking about work. It also is asking and talking about life in general, which is a good way to make volunteering a lot more fun. You can develop a relationship with actual people outside of work. The first time I asked for help, I was scared because I wasn’t sure if they were going to judge me or not. But once I did ask, they were super considerate.”

Outside the library, Jas enjoys spending time with his best friends, whom he became close with during frosh year. Playing games like spikeball and discovering new activities through social media strengthened their connection.

“The most memorable moment was on 4th of July, when we all went to play pickleball and then we had a barbecue dinner at my friend’s house,” Jas said. “We were all put together in that moment, and that’s pretty special to me.” 

By volunteering and deepening his friendships, Jas developed a stronger sense of who he is and became more willing to push beyond his comfort zone.

“It’s definitely made me more outgoing,” Jas said. “Before, I didn’t want to go outside too much or try new things. But both of these, library volunteering and hanging out with my friends, made me more willing to experiment.”

Jas hopes to be remembered for the impact he made through his genuine commitment to helping others.

“A lot of people treat volunteering as, ‘Oh, I need this many hours, so I’m going to volunteer this amount,’” Jas said. “I do it because I have an actual passion for it, so I want to be remembered for that, and leave that legacy behind for other students to follow.”

Close friend senior Demitri Aljouny, who met Jas in lower school, initially perceived Jas as quiet. Over the years, he noticed Jas became more outgoing and confident around others.

“He’s definitely become more of a social person, because I remember before, he didn’t want to go out as much,” Demitri said. “But as time went on, he started coming to more hangouts with our friend group. He started talking to us more. He’s also always super nice. He’s one of the people whom I’ve never seen be mean to anyone my entire life. He’s been one of my closest friends.”

Biology teacher Eric Johnson observed that Jas became more confident in biology as the year went on. He believes that Jas’s growing passion for biology, especially physiology, showed clearly in his class participation.

“Jas is a very good collaborator,” Johnson said. “I like the way he speaks and discusses the prompts I give in class. My class is very participation-heavy. I could almost always rely on Jas to ask him and his partner a question, and I could see Jas talking, being engaged, listening to my lesson and helping the people around him learn more. That’s how I think of him.”

Johnson advises Jas to take ownership of his path after school and pursue what feels authentic instead of adhering to social norms. 

“Jas knows what’s best for him,” Johnson said. “In high school, it feels like other people have opinions of us and that’s what matters the most. But what matters most is our point of view. It’s important that we be secure with ourselves before anything. He demonstrated that, so I just want to remind him to keep being himself. The world is lucky to have him.”

Chemistry teacher Andrew Irvine echoes this sentiment and underscores Jas’s maturity.

“I taught him for two years in a row,” Irvine said. “I would attribute Jas with being steadfast. Getting that work, like going into my practice resources and coming in with good questions, shows his personal initiative and that personal responsibility component.”

Now nearing the end of his high school journey, Jas learned the value of individuality through engaging with others. After realizing in junior year that comparison limits growth, he made a conscious effort to define success on his own terms.

“I’ve learned to not carry myself based on others, but to act how I want to act,” Jas said. “Be yourself, because everyone else is taken. If you try to be someone else, those perceptions might already be taken and being used by other people, too. So just be yourself.”