CdM Connect —an emerging app made for CdM students to keep track of their bell schedule, reminders, calendar of school events, and stay connected with their individual clubs in just one platform. Connect was created by CdM’s very own senior, Ryan Mehrali.
When Ryan Mehrali first came to CdM as a sophomore, he felt “overwhelmed by the amount of information and various things going on around campus.” Mehrali described that he “didn’t know where to look. There were flyers, posters, Instagram posts, Trident TV & ASB announcements everywhere, and I just didn’t know how to handle all that information.” Mehrali even referenced a time when he had missed class and another instance where he arrived at his class extremely tardy because he didn’t know if there was a block schedule or a minimum day. Mehrali explained that it was hard for him to gather all of this new information, organized and in one place, which led to one of his leading factors for creating CdM Connect. Ever since he was in fourth grade, Mehrali has had a passion for coding, and he wanted to use his coding abilities to innovate something for his school.
CdM Connect is a one-stop hub where you can find out all of your campus events, class reminders, and users can store their own personal notes. Other features include specific group announcements, like sports teams can announce when their games are, and even create a personal hub for all of their players for reminders about practice, team bonding, and other events. Coaches can reach out to their players, and players can reach their coaches easier than ever before through CdM Connect. Mehrali also talks about future goals for the app, including spreading it to individual CdM clubs, like Speech & Debate, NAMI, the Pickleball Club, etc, where they can post announcements and meeting days. Mehrali hopes to develop the app in the future to the point where other schools around could have their own personal app too.
CdM Connect shows similarities to other apps, including Remind, Notable, & Saturn. What separates CdM Connect apart from those other apps is generality. Other apps are generalized for everyone, meanwhile CdM Connect is personalized just for CdM students. According to user Maxwell Tran, “what separates CdM Connect from other reminder apps is that it’s personalized for CdM students only.” He talks about how the app has an “advantage” compared to other apps because it’s a free app, it helps you organize your life, and it’s specific to CdM. Maxwell Tran is a user of CdM Connect who has experienced a big impact from CdM Connect. He says that he’s found it easier to “help me keep track of my schedule and keep track of events that are going on at school.” Tran also describes that it’s helped him be more aware of things going on around campus, including “the sporting events that don’t get much attention, like cross-country and VAPA events that I wouldn’t know about.” Tran wants to see the app being more spread among students and promoted; he also hopes that through ASB, the app will keep getting developed.
CdM Connect is now available on the App Store for free and is currently getting approved by the Android Play Store.
