Brothers and Sisters From All Over the World Lexi P., the youngest child in her family by
many years, lived a quiet life with her mom and dad in the central Oregon town of Bend. Tat all changed when she came to OES this year as a boarding student. Now Lexi lives with 60 “siblings” from all over the world. It was strange enough having a roommate, much less a roommate from halfway around the world. “We were both on new ground
together,” Lexi said. “She’s from Shanghai and had never been to America. When we emailed during the summer, she was really excited to come. It’s cool to talk about her normal daily life in China, and it gives me a perspective on the differences between the United States and the rest of the world.” Part of the draw of OES for Lexi was the
appreciates that every school evening students must attend a supervised study hall from 7:30 to 9:30. “It gets you to focus and do your homework without other distractions like YouTube and Facebook,” she said. “As self-motivated as I am, the study hall still helps me.”
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science program. She calls herself a “total science geek” and loves that OES has a whole building devoted to science and math, and equipped with devices she never knew existed. Lexi was able to do cancer research for her science fair project, an exciting topic given her interest in possible careers in medicine or medical research. Te classes are more rigorous than she was used to, but she has risen to the challenge and loves it. “Te teaching style is very different so I have gotten a new perspective on what I am learning,” she said. “Teachers challenge you to have an analytical mind and to zoom out and see the bigger picture in life. Tere’s a deeper meaning behind everything.” Lexi is experiencing some new freedoms in living
away from home, such as being able to practice volleyball in the gym late on weekend nights with her dorm friends. But she also likes the structure of the program, with a set schedule and dorm parents on duty that she can go to if she has a problem. She
“It’s been really rewarding to make connections with these students and nurture them and be there for them. They are so positive and so amazing. I can’t imagine going away like they have and doing what they do and producing like they do. I am in awe of them every day.” — Jenny Strode,
dorm parent and Lower School administrative assistant
I love the environment of OES, and I love all the people, and I love the fact that I can get a great education and have a great social life, too. —Lexi P. ’16, Bend, Oregon
” Although academics are important, she also
enjoys athletics. In addition to playing on the volleyball team, she tried lacrosse for the first time this spring. Social opportunities are also greater at OES, especially for a dorm student living right on campus. Lexi says her social life is great. She has many friends among day students, and they often come to the dorm to hang out after school. At her small school in Bend, there were no dances, so she was thrilled to go to the semi-formal and prom. She went to a friend’s home to get her makeup and hair done and to have dinner, then went to the dance, which exceeded her expectations. “Everyone was on the dance floor and we were
screaming the words to the songs, it was so fun. We all felt purely together. Te next day when we came back to school we were really united, like brothers and sisters in one big family.” Lexi is home in Bend for the summer,
enjoying time with her family and riding her horse, but she’s looking forward to returning to campus in the fall and being reunited with her OES brothers and sisters.
“This is kind of like college, being with your fellow students and working on academics together. I don’t think college will be that much different from my life here.” — Roy Lee ’13, South Korea
LEARN MORE:
www.oes.edu/ magazine
• Video
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