Ashwini Bandi and Matthew Ivie

   Marriotts Ridge is home to a wealth of stellar students whose achievements extend far beyond the school community. Kicking off this year’s “Mustang on the Map” student feature, The Stallion turns the spotlight on a student whose innovation was already generating interest beyond Howard County before the school year had even begun. Sophomore Aadi Agarwal recently launched Club’d, an app designed to centralize the many clubs offered at Marriotts Ridge. By allowing students to browse organizations and keep track of important dates and deadlines, Agarwal’s platform has transformed the way Mustangs get involved, earning him a recent feature in The Baltimore Sun. 

   The inspiration for Club’d was born out of Agarwal’s own frustrating experiences navigating extracurriculars as a freshman. He noticed that because every club used different platforms to communicate, information was easily lost. He recalled a specific moment during which a last-minute meeting cancellation left several students stranded at school for three hours because they didn’t receive the message. Realizing he wasn’t alone in his confusion, Agarwal took the initiative to gather data.

   “I decided to spread a survey around Marriotts Ridge to see if students felt the same problem,” Agarwal explained. “Out of a few hundred responses, 92% of students said that they would benefit from a central application where all club information can be stored.”

   Taking this student feedback, Agarwal approached Principal Dennis and Coach Ingram with his vision. With their support, what started as a simple idea to solve a local problem turned into a large-scale project with months of research. Agarwal spent a month and a half just surveying students and collecting data before delving into the coding process around December.

   “I finished the main prototype by the end of May; from June and over summer break I refined it with Coach Ingram and a few testers among the students in Marriotts Ridge,” Agarwal said. “Then, we unveiled the final product on [New] Student Orientation.”

   The Club’d app is divided into three main tabs: Featured, All Clubs, and Profile. Each club is categorized into sections: Academic, Community, Science, Sports, or Arts and Culture. Each app has a brief description and meeting logistics. The app also allows users to request the creation of new ones.

   By giving students a chance to propose new clubs, the app creates an opportunity for student needs to be addressed by other students. For Mustangs looking to start a club, this feature provides a clear way to build upon the community and make it better.

   While Club’d has helped solve the school’s persistent organization problem, Agarwal continues to look for ways to improve the app. He is already considering future additions, including the possibility of an in-app messaging feature that would allow students to communicate directly with clubs. His hard work and its result reflect Mustang pride in action, as one student’s initiative has created change and opened the door for other Mustangs to do the same.