Studying at OSSM

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.

At home I could not have received the level of academic support or the caliber of college counseling I receive at OSSM.  Living at OSSM taught me I can volunteer more, learn more, work more, and achieve more than I ever thought possible.  A million thanks to all who make it possible for students like me to take advantage of the biggest opportunity Oklahoma has to offer.

My experience at OSSM has opened me up to not only amazing opportunities, but amazing friendships. I also was able to appreciate my culture and heritage while getting to know other cultures throughout the school!

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.  

OSSM not only allowed me to mature and develop important life skills, it gave me a community of people (friends and faculty) whose influence will stick with me for the rest of my life.  Remembering all the hard physics problems, long labs and random study sessions in the mezzanine, I realize all the fun I had and I’m truly happy to be a part of something so special.

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!)

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 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.

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.