Month: August 2016

There is a sense of security to be gained from similarity.  At OSSM, however, I have found my best friends are the most different from me, and I relish in our unique approaches to problem solving.  We all share in the ambition to better ourselves and the community we share.  

My hope for OSSM is that they continue to draw the rich talent Oklahoma supplies and turn those students into the leaders of academia and the global economy for the next generation.

In so many ways, my experience at OSSM grew me as a person by completely breaking down and rebuilding my perception of an excellent education. Not only was I able to experience a competitive yet collaborative school culture, but I learned much more than I ever thought possible.  

OSSM prepared me for a petroleum engineering undergraduate program which helped me start my first semester of college as a sophomore and have a higher GPA after that first semester.   (See more of Tyler’s story HERE!)

It’s important to remind yourself that no matter how many disappointments you face or how many times you fail, you just have to pick yourself up and keep working towards your goals.  If you do, eventually your successes will outweigh your failures and you will accomplish the goals you set for yourself.  It took me two semesters at OSSM to learn this, but I know I will never forget it.  

OSSM has been an amazing experience for me. Although the classes are challenging, they interest me and stimulate my mind in ways that my home school never could. However, the community has had the most profound impact on me; it is clear to me that wherever I go, I will never meet people or have a community quite like the one at OSSM.

Through OSSM I have gained a better understanding of other cultures, a confidence in what I do even if I fail, and I now know more about what talents I have and how I can use them to achieve my dreams.  OSSM really has helped me mature and see what I can give back to others.

OSSM is an experience that breaks me down, but builds me up. It pushed me out of my comfort zone and exposed my weaknesses. But it gave me the environment to motivate myself in any given challenge and grow stronger along with the rest of our community.

I learned the value of true friendship and to be more accepting of my own imperfection (such as grades) because in the end we all learn from our faults and flaws and can always improve.  OSSM certainly has given me a first, real experience of hard work — There is no time or space for procrastination!  

OSSM gave me a competitive environment to learn at a highly accelerated pace, which is what I and most of my colleagues have been wishing for since the discovery of our talents in elementary school.