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When Tarish enrolled at ISS International School, little did he know that he would one day become the resident computer expert among his friends.

When Tarish enrolled at ISS International School at age 14, he was unsure of what he wanted to do in the future. However, the nurturing small-school environment , customised approach to teaching and enriching broad-based curriculum, soon helped him explore opportunities through a wide range of subjects to find his true passion in computing.

He reminises that his turning point was when he enrolled in the ‘Design and Technology (D&T)’ class. He had some interest in ‘Real Time Strategy Game’ at that time, but it was the D&T class which accelerated his learning about how things were created, including the subject of robotics and programming.

“Our teacher, Mr. Taylor had an interesting way of inspiring us. He provided us with all the materials and information and then encouraged us to discover and create for ourselves,” Tarish explains. The methodology of the class guided the students to investigate, plan, create and evaluate as they built robots using Lego Mindstorms EV3 kits and programmed them to perform a task.

“There was no spoon-feeding, and I was very excited to tinker with the software and robot and to meet up with Mr. Taylor to research further into different programming styles,” he adds.

As Mr. Taylor built on his curiosity to discover more, his interest in programming was ignited. He went further to learn about how programmes were structured and how programming languages were created.

“I was always fascinated by the concept of computers and what they could do,” says Tarish. “When I
learnt about different programming styles, I was suddenly made aware that the human brain is actually a biological programme. Once I made the connection between robotics and humanity, the subject matter engrossed me.”

Driven by his new-found passion, Tarish pushed himself to build the largest robot in class able to perform the prescribed task of pushing several cans and obstacles in the fastest time. Resulting from this impressive performance, Tarish and his friends were recommended to participate in the National Youth Council’s New Age Hackathon 2.0 to develop a mobile app to assist senior citizens. He also gained a job during his summer vacation as an IT support assistant at a marine company.

“Computing fascinates me as small programmes with a few lines of code can perform big tasks to benefit so many people,” says Tarish. “It’s incomprehensible that there are so many endless possibilities and developments in the field, many of which happened only in the last century.”

“I look up to the school motto of ‘Realising Potential’ as I am thankful to have discovered this passion while studying at ISS International School,” he says. He notes that it was the school’s unique customised approach to nurturing each student as an individual that allowed him to learn more about himself and transform his interest into a lifelong passion. “In fact,“ as Tarish adds, ” ISS has taught me various life skills that I will require later in life.”

Apart from computing, he is also interested in the business aspect of running a technology company. One day, he hopes to work for an innovative technology company like Valve or Blizzard Entertainment. In the meantime, he continues being the “mini IT support guy” for his friends in school.