BOARDING
Residential students from around the world experience a family environment as they share their lives and cultures with each other and with day students.
Tey live in two dormitories behind the Upper School—one for girls and one for boys. Tey communicate with their roommates in English, a language that may not be native to them. Teir success depends on learning to be independent and on connecting with people from many countries. When Mady Gutierrez ’13 arrived from
I
San Francisco as a freshman, she was excited to be undertaking a great adventure. But the challenge of independence, even on the smallest level, temporarily set her back. “When I first got here and had to go to Fred
Meyer to buy detergent, soap and toothpaste, I started crying and thought, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing. Is this the right brand?’ I called up my mother and said ‘Do we use Tide?’” As a senior last year, Mady wasn’t fazed
by the detergent aisle at Freddy’s nor by bigger challenges and responsibilities. “I’ve grown to be very independent,” she notes.
“Well, I say I’m independent, but I am surrounded by people who really care about me. My life at OES has been wonderful. I could not ask for any more out of a high school experience.” When Jenn L. ’15 and twin sister Chris arrived
from Taiwan their freshman year, they had some advantages because their mother and aunt had attended OES. But OES still held many surprises for Jenn. Her sophomore year, for example, began with a wilderness hiking and camping trip. “When I first heard we had to go on a backpacking
trip, I thought, ‘Oh man, why?’ But when we sat at the campfire and looked at the stars it was really beautiful. It got us a lot closer. I made good friends and it was a really fun experience.” Living together, the dorm students quickly
grow very close to one another. Getting to know day students takes a bit more time, but it helps
magine having the courage to leave one’s home and family at the age of 15. Te courage to move halfway around the world and share a room with a stranger. Te courage to live among people who speak different languages and have different customs. Te OES campus is home to over 40 international students and a dozen American students who have had the courage to embark on that adventure.
that everyone is thrown together on class trips during the first week of school. Ten all the Upper School students share classes, play on sports teams, and work on school plays. Dorm student Jinny P. ’14 became close friends with day student Niky Inskeep ’12 because they were on the ski team. Jinny got to know the Inskeep family and was hosted by them on several weekends and school holidays. Ten Niky visited Jinny in Korea last summer along with other day students. “Even though Niky is in college now, I
still have a connection with her family and go to her house for fun,” Jinny said. “Her mom and I get manicures and pedicures together and send pictures to Niky on Facebook.”
“
We talk a lot about providing a global education and being a global community, and we have a global community. It’s right in our backyard. It’s the OES dorms. —Justin Kerr, dorm parent, Middle School teacher
” Te presence of international students infuses
the Upper School with an intercultural atmosphere. Dormies get to know students in other divisions through activities like volunteering in Lower School classrooms or mentoring Middle School students. Lower and Middle School families can also volunteer as hosts for dorm students unable to go home for holiday breaks. “For the Upper School students it’s really fun to be the big brother or big sister in a Lower or Middle School family,” said Bonnie Brennan, director of Residential Life. “Tey fall into that big brother or big sister mode. Families also have invited dorm students over for dinner or for baking cookies. Tey get to meet dorm students and learn about their cultures.” As residential students and day students become friends, the day students often visit the dorms after school to play ping-pong, shoot pool, or just hang out with a dorm student friend. Sometimes day students come live in the dorms for a few days or longer through a program called the Backyard Exchange (BYE).
Dorm students for the 2013-2014 school year are coming to OES from the following countries:
Brazil Canada China Ethiopia Hong Kong Singapore South Korea Taiwan Thailand
United States Vietnam
Summer 2013 7
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