The Role of S@S in the OHS Community

Summer @ Stanford (S@S) is OHS’s optional residential summer program hosted at the Stanford University campus. Each year, the global OHS community is brought together at S@S, but unfortunately, it has now been canceled for two years in a row due to the pandemic. It hence seemed timely to conduct a survey to help understand the impact the cancellation has had on OHSer’s views regarding S@S and its importance in connecting the school community. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.

Results

Of the 35 total students who responded to the survey, 25 were full-time, 3 were part-time, and 7 were single-course students. While 19 of the respondents have never been to S@S, 12 have been once and 4 have been twice.

In the survey, respondents were first asked whether they would plan on attending S@S if it were happening under normal circumstances. The results are as follows:

• 25 students responded “Yes”

• 8 students responded “Maybe”

• 2 students responded “No”

The vast majority of students would consider going to S@S, and nearly three-quarters of respondents affirmed they would definitively plan on attending. With S@S’s unfortunate cancelation, however, respondents were then asked to rate whether they felt that they were missing out on the program. On a scale of 1, “not missing out on anything,” to 5, “definitely missing out,” the responses were as follows:

While the majority of students strongly felt that they were missing out on S@S, there was a variety of responses to this question. Nevertheless, the overwhelming majority of respondents agreed that their main reason for wanting to attend S@S is the opportunity it brings to see friends and engage with the OHS community. 33 out of 35 respondents favored S@S’s social experience as such, over both the academic program and residential experience it offers at Stanford University.

Given this major social role, respondents were then asked to rate how important they think S@S is for building community on a scale of 1, “not important at all,” to 5, “extremely important.” The same was asked of S@S’s importance compared to other student life activities such as clubs. The results were as below:

Nearly all respondents agreed that S@S is very important in its role in the OHS community, the average response being 4.4. On the other hand, when compared to other student life components, S@S still holds a similar and only slightly lesser importance to students, with the average response being 4.2.

Finally, respondents were asked whether they plan on participating in the Online S@S being held this year, with the following results:

• 7 students responded “Yes”

• 11 students responded “Maybe”

• 15 students responded “No”

• 2 students responded “No, I’m a graduating senior”

Additional Thoughts

Given its role as a significant social gathering, some students offered further remarks on their thoughts about S@S. An 8th grader reflected on their experience at a previous S@S, writing, “S@S was amazing! I met so many great friends and the activities were so fun!” They hope to be able to attend S@S next year and many students likely share these sentiments. 

One freshman who had also been to S@S before noted that it is a “huge disappointment” it could not take place since “it's a super important event.” A senior agreed and added that “lots of ‘OHS history’ happened at S@S.” Unfortunately, the senior never got the chance to attend S@S and, for both S@S’s academic and social opportunities, they “definitely regret that [they were] never able to.” The senior had participated in Online S@S last year, noting, “that was a lot of fun because I liked the class,” but they say it “was an entirely different event” to in-person S@S.

Another OHSer similarly remarked on the significance of S@S’s in-person aspect. They emphasized that "the whole point [...] of S@S is to be able to see my classmates in person. I’m not attending Online S@S because that kind of ruins the point of seeing people face to face,” especially since social platforms such as Skype enable them to regularly contact their friends online anyway. The student concluded, “That’s why I love S@S: it’s an organized event where I FINALLY get to see my classmates in person. I’ve only been to S@S once, but I still regularly keep in contact with the people I met there. I remember S@S as the third best week of my life, and I was really hoping that it would be in-person this year.”

It is clear S@S is an important component in many OHSers’ overall student life experiences, but for those who are feeling left out due to its cancellation, a junior offered their advice: “I think S@S is a great experience but [it is] definitely not required to maintain a social life at [...] OHS. I went to S@S the year going into my freshman year and I made a few friends, but we all soon lost contact. However, all of the friends that I now talk to regularly, including the bestest friend I have met in my life, came through just by us taking similar classes and then connecting on a deeper level after that. Thus, don't strain yourself on going to S@S, because there are plenty of other ways to make friends here just by reaching out and finding your group.” 

Conclusion

Although S@S is certainly a memorable and important experience for many students to connect with their fellow peers and instructors, it is only a piece of engagement with the OHS community. Reaching out to classmates, participating in clubs, and attending school-wide events are among the many ways you can socially get involved at OHS. Hopefully, safety conditions will allow in-person S@S to resume next year, but for now, we can definitely appreciate how our school is uniquely adapted to the unprecedented current situation.