Ryan Mehrali: CDM Connect

By: Alina Schwetz

Ryan Mehrali

Running late to class, not knowing when lunch ends, and forgetting to attend club meetings were all problems that Ryan Mehrali noticed among his peers. The annoyance of having to pull his phone out every lunch to look up the bell schedule at Corona del Mar High School finally got to him. Ryan took it upon himself to reinvent the meaning of being “fashionably late to class”– with CDM Connect, a self-made app that focuses on schedules, schoolwide events, club meetings and all the other things necessary to survive a day of school!

Ryan took inspiration from an app similar to one that is being used at University High. He gathered his meager knowledge of Python coding from a class he took when he was 8, and took matters into his own hands to learn more in-depth about building a platform for teens, watching countless tutorials on app development. Leading up to CDM Connect’s launch, he had to fix numerous bugs and issues to ensure the app would run smoothly for the first couple of weeks. It was difficult for Ryan, explaining that the process was all “trial and error.”

Since its launch, Ryan has received a lot of praise and positive comments from his peers. All the uplifting support has motivated him to continue to regularly update the app, making it available school-wide and adjustable to every person’s unique schedule and needs. For the future, Ryan plans to create a website that will be available to people all over Newport Beach, connecting people to volunteering opportunities.

About Ryan Mehrali

Ryan Mehrali is a current senior at Corona del Mar High School, who moved to Newport Coast just a few years ago. This switch in his life changed him forever, opening many new opportunities and passions he’s never explored before. Ryan’s outgoing personality shone through the “new kid” label, as he quickly made many new close friends and connections at CDMHS. His proactiveness didn’t stop there, as he took the initiative to make a difference in his new school by contacting the ASB leaders. Ryan’s bold, yet friendly demeanor caught everyone’s attention, making him a perfect candidate of becoming the Community Outreach Commissioner. Shortly after landing this position at ASB, Ryan used it thoughtfully as a platform to spread the word about CDM Connect.

Outside of school, Ryan enjoys going to Laguna Beach and taking the ferry with his friends to Lido Isle. He’s always up for hikes near the coastline and getting matcha at Blk Dot Coffee. As Ryan currently applies to colleges, he hopes to pursue Biological Anthropology, to later apply his knowledge to becoming a dentist in the future.

Ryan’s honesty and authenticity radiated effortlessly, explaining that “I don’t wish to pursue coding or computer science in the future. I made the app because I saw a problem in my community and I wanted to fix it -- to help everyone get by with school.” Building CDM Connect purely from passion, and not to check-mark another box on college applications, speaks volumes about Ryan’s genuine and sincere character.