From Their Perspective - A Conversation with Seniors, Isabel & Oskar

In this episode of Hoplite Radio, Ridgeview Classical Schools seniors Isabel and Oskar reflect on their seven-year journey through classical education, rigorous academics, outdoor education, and student life at Ridgeview. Isabel shares how mountain biking, volunteering, and the outdoor program shaped her understanding of community and self-discipline, while Oskar discusses robotics, engineering, bilingualism, and the influence of his Polish heritage on his educational journey. Together, they explore the value of classical education, senior thesis projects, outdoor trips, close-knit student culture, and balancing academics with extracurricular activities. This episode offers an authentic look at the Ridgeview Classical Schools experience for prospective families, students, and anyone interested in classical education, outdoor learning, student leadership, robotics, and college preparation.

00:14:18 – Discussion about Ridgeview’s student culture, close-knit community, and balancing life outside school

00:24:50 – Mr. Anderson discusses how senior theses demonstrate student growth, self-understanding, and intellectual maturity

00:27:55 – Closing reflections on how Ridgeview changes the way students think and prepares them for life beyond high school

Read The Transcript:

00:00

[INTRO MUSIC]

00:00:14 Mr. Anderson

Hello and welcome to Hoplite Radio, an educational podcast by Ridgeview Classical Schools, which explores the importance of classical education in a modern era. Today, I'm joined by Isabel and Oskar, and this is something that we do towards the end of each year, which is we pull a few of our seniors, a couple of our seniors, and sort of talk to them about what their experiences looked like at Ridgeview, and a little bit about what they're looking forward to.

I asked each of them to think of something that was unlikely about them to make them memorable right out of the gate.

Should we begin with you, Oscar?

00:00:49 Oskar

You know, why not? Yeah, I'm Oscar Bekas. I've gone to Ridgeview for seven years, and I guess one unlikely thing about me is that I have all of my extended family in Poland, which I try to make my best effort to with my family here in Colorado to visit them as much as possible.

00:01:06 Mr. Anderson

And you speak Polish fluently.

00:01:07 Oskar

I do, yes.

00:01:08 Mr. Anderson

Which is pretty cool.

00:01:09 Oskar

Yeah, thank you.

00:01:10 Mr. Anderosn

All right, Isabel.

00:01:12 Isabel

Hi, my name is Isabel Troxel. I've also been at Ridgeview for seven years, and one unlikely thing about me could be that I raised downhill. It's been a big part of my life, but I think when people meet me, it's not the first thing that they would usually expect.

00:01:28 Mr. Anderson

I think that's fair. They would not, yes, that Oscar speaks Polish fluently, and they wouldn't look at you and think that you're a sort of mountain bike guru. But it's a very cool part of both of you, and we'll get into that.

So, it's interesting that you've both been here for seven years. But where did you come from? And I guess we'll start with Isabel. Where were you born? Where'd you go to elementary school? And how did you happen to find Ridgeview?

00:01:54 Isabel

Well, I was born in Fort Collins. I've been here my whole life. I started elementary school in the public school system. However, I quickly realized that I wasn't into that kind of discipline. So, I switched to Catholic school, which was very interesting because my family is not Catholic. But I toured there at St. Joseph's Catholic school and was immediately drawn to the uniforms and the kind of discipline that came with it. So, I ended up switching there until fourth grade, which I moved to the Academy of Arts and Knowledge, which was a major switch going from a rigid educational system to an art school where there wasn't homework and it was very free flowing. And then after that ended, I was able to get into Ridgeview in sixth grade and then have stayed here since.

00:02:49 Mr. Anderson

All right. Well, I had no idea actually, that you've been to that many different places. And  both of your parents are originally from Fort Collins, was that true?

00:02:57 Isabel

They are, yes.

00:02:58 Mr. Anderson

Yeah, which is pretty rare.

00:03:00 Mr. Anderson

There's not very many people that are living here who are definitely from here. All right. Oskar?

00:03:06 Oskar

Yeah. I was born in Chicago, Illinois and I lived there until about age seven. I started off in the public school system as well. And I just bounced around from elementary schools there. At age seven again in 2015 I moved over to Hawaii. And I, again, joined another public school there. It was a little one right outside of our neighborhood. After two years of being in Hawaii, we moved over to Wisconsin in 2017 where, yeah, I started again, I had one more year in elementary school before in fifth grade transferring to a middle school. And then, yeah, after I believe in about 2020, we moved over to Colorado where I started here in sixth grade, moved back to elementary school and I stayed here ever since.

00:03:52 Mr. Anderson

Wow. I need to ask more questions. I had no idea. Did you know that he had been in Hawaii?

00:03:57 Isabel

I did, actually.

00:03:59 Mr. Anderson

I was looking at Isabel like; do you know all these things already? That is cool. So, I think it's unique having people who didn't, I mean, it's obviously unique having lifers that have been here from kindergarten. And that's good too. But it is also, I think, a good thing that we have seniors who experienced something other than Ridgeview and then came here. Do you remember what it was that caught your parent’s eye or your eye about Ridgeview and what was it that compelled you to stay?

Because you obviously had, I'm assuming opportunities to get off the bus, but you did stay.

So, what attracted you and what has kept you here?

00:04:38 Isabel

Well, I first discovered Ridgeview with my parents in fourth grade. We immediately were drawn to the discipline again of everything. I loved the uniform aspect. I was a child that was very into, like, orderly fashion. I wanted everything to be perfect. And so that was definitely a big aspect of it.

However, I didn't get into the lottery. So I wasn't able to come until sixth grade. And I was very excited to do tons of homework, which now looking back, I'm like, hmm, but it has been a great journey, as I've said before.

00:05:15 Mr. Anderson

And what do you think it was that has kept you here? Now, you know, once you were in, how did it work? I mean, I think, hopefully it worked, particularly given your interest in outside things, sports, and the outdoors and everything.

00:05:27 Isabel

Yeah, it's been interesting because I have many friends who go to public school and I hang out with them on a daily. So, it's always interesting to see what they're doing versus what I'm doing. And they definitely have more free range to do whatever they've liked. And that has been tempting in the past.

However, I've stayed at Ridgeview because of the curriculum and especially the material that we've been taught. I love how many books we get to read in the discussions that we get to have. So, I think that's been one of the main reasons why I've stayed.

00:05:56 Mr. Anderson

Yeah. I mean, judging from the outside, you seem to have kind of managed to have the best of both worlds in a way.

What about you, Oscar?

00:06:06

Yeah, I ended up at Ridgeview because both my parents placed a very high regard or a very high importance on education. Both of them grew up in Poland and in Poland, there is a very high standard of education there. So, after years of being in the public school system, my parents became dissatisfied with it. And we ended up at a Ridgeview because after seeing the curriculum and, yes, the courses they offer and the level of courses, they found it that it would be a good switch. So, after trying it out for a year, I mean, I started liking it.

I really liked the tight-knit community. I think that's one of the aspects that really makes Ridgeview a Ridgeview being able to almost know everyone at the school by name and have all the conversation with them, I think, is an aspect which I really liked. And also, just the connection, again, that Ridgeview fosters, I found to be important. So yeah, after seven years, I could say that it's been worth it to stay.

00:06:59 Mr. Anderson

That's awesome. So memorable aspects. I think we get a little bit of a peek at some of these things when you guys do your senior thesis. I think Lydia's yesterday was a good example of how, you know, fourth grade me versus present day me was a good way to open. But you had seven years of hopefully positive memories and positive experiences, probably also some hard things. And as Isabel kind of noted, some moments probably where you considered whether there wasn't something you would rather be doing would have been some of the best and most memorable moments over the last seven years that have to do with Ridgeview.

00:07:39 Isabel

Well, the first thing that comes to mind is obviously the outdoor programs because that's such a big aspect of the Ridgeview experience. So, I'd say being able to bond with my classmates on those trips, especially because as Oskar earlier noted, we are such a tight-knit community. I think that's been one of my favorite aspects of Ridgeview is being able to go out in the wilderness and experience how we interact with each other in a different environment than just the classroom.

And as I talked about in my senior thesis, which I talked about self-understanding, I think that that experience just adds to the whole of how we get to know each other, how we get to know ourselves in turn. And it's been really special.

00:08:23 Oskar

Yeah, for me, I'd have to second again with the outdoor program. I think the skills and again the connection that I've fostered and learned through the outdoor program has been something that'll stay in my life for probably ever. So, I think that's probably one of my most favorite and most memorable experiences here at Ridgeview.

But I would also point to the robotics team. I've been part of the robotics team for, since eighth grade, for about five years now. And the skills and community again that I fostered through that club has been immeasurable. I'm planning on pursuing mechanical engineering once I go to college and the skills that I've learned there are definitely going to give me a head start in terms of that.

00:09:06 Mr. Anderson

So nice. What about, so as of all, for instance, you mentioned, you know, young you came because there was a bunch of homework. And it seemed like you really have a lot to do. I'll ask you, you mentioned sort of the importance of education, particularly from a sort of polish perspective. What have been some of the best courses or the best texts or the best teachers that you've had that made it worth, you know, did it live up to the hype?

00:09:38 Isabel

I would say that this year has been my favorite curriculum sources. Specifically, the sources we've read in moral philosophy. I loved reading about stoicism from Marcus Raleus and his meditations. And the books we read in modern lit, specifically, Siddhartha was such a memorable book for me and how everything is connected that really touched my heart in a certain way, which I loved.

00:10:06 Mr. Anderson

Yeah, you actually, you've kind of connected two things inadvertently in the outdoor program in Siddhartha in that, I don't know if you remember this, probably, maybe it doesn't mean as much to you as it meant to me, but we were on a night hike one night. And I think I had said to you, it was the last time you did this hike and I think you said something like this morning.

And I laughed and I was like, okay, and then we were hiking up and you said, you know, had the craziest experience reading Siddhartha and I thought, man, we have like perfectly wedded the outdoor program to the ambitions of the academic curriculum. So I was glad to hear that that book landed well with you and met something to you.

Oscar, what about you? Best course, best text.

00:10:54 Oskar

I would point to Siddhartha. I really like the book and the message it carried, especially with the way that experience is playing one's life. I mean, looking at the story of Siddhartha, he goes through the highest highs and the lowest of lows and I feel like looking at that history, kind of resonated with me very, very deeply. In terms of courses, I would probably say that high school robotics, Krav Maga and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu have been some of my favorites here. High school robotics, you really get to learn the engineering process. In terms of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, I think it's a great way of, you know, becoming more physically fit as well as just learning a useful skill for the future.

So yeah. And in terms of core courses, ones that are core to the curriculum, I would say that modern European history really played a big role in me. I find Mr. Herndon's teachings to be not only engaging, but also very educative. And I think that he brings a great deal of importance to the course.

00:11:57 Mr. Anderson

Very good. Both of you have mentioned the outdoor program. I've talked about the outdoor program. What's the best trip that we do? What's part of the outdoor program that you guys did in the last seven years?

00:12:09 Isabel

I think my favorite would have to be either the downhill ski trip or the rock climbing trip. I think that those two things skiing and rock climbing are something that I really love to do. And it was amazing to be able to share that with the rest of my classmates.

00:12:25 Oskar

Yeah, I find that to be such a hard question to answer because we've gone on so many trips and I've pondered this question before and I could narrow it down to probably a top three, that being the ambassador ice climbing trip, the downhill ski trip and the 10th grade caving trip. I think that those, all three of those are just very unique experiences that I definitely or I probably wouldn't have experienced without the outdoor program.

00:12:51 Isabel

I would also have to agree with the ice climbing trip. I didn’t even think about that.

00:12:56 Mr. Anderson

Yeah, I mean, I will say this about the outdoor program. You know, I've told this story before, which was that I had not really intended to start an outdoor program when this all began. I just had a senior class full of kids that were not getting along, and I decided that we were taking them camping until they behaved better.

And it kind of, I mean, it worked, but not really in the way that I had intended for it to work, which was that I think is important as these buildings are and these books are and this location and everything.

There's a kind of artificiality to it. I mean, it is a little bit of a contrived thing. There's a big table, there's a room, there's books, there's a chalkboard, there's a teacher. But when you take everybody outside, I think you get to know them in a totally different way than you would, I mean, you come, even when you're back in the classroom from those trips, I think everybody sees each other a little bit differently and probably be with a greater humanity than they had before they left. So, I hope that that's something that's true about the outdoor program, is it, or is that just the adult's perspective of now having been on hundreds of trips?

00:14:06 Isabel

Oh, I completely agree.

00:14:07 Oskar

Yeah, I would definitely agree as well. I mean, when we're at the school, I mean, the most immediate relationship is probably being classmates and I mean being out of the classroom changes that dynamic. So, I would agree.

00:14:18 Mr. Anderson

So, in that kind of segues into this question about your social lives, I think that there's a, for people who aren't here, perhaps, I think that there's the worry that this is too small, it's too intimate, it's impossible to get away from things. Both of you seem to, I mean, the senior class, I would argue, I hope that this is true. You guys definitely act in a classroom and on a trip as though you get along with one another, you're polite with one another, you're civil, you seem, I mean, particularly when you watch the reaction of those senior thesis, you guys show one another a ton of support, which is all great.

But the other thing I've said about Ridgeview, I think, is that the best and kind of most idealized version of a Ridgeview student, as somebody who has a lot of experiences outside of here and that could be through athletics, it could be pure group, a church group, anything or a job, an internship.

You've had some of those experiences and I think that the reason that it improves you as Ridgeview students is you know what makes Ridgeview special, but you also are able to get the parts that Ridgeview can't give you someplace else, which I think is an important life skill because it's unlikely that any one place is going to provide everything.

Has that been true? And maybe you talked just a little bit about your experiences. For instance, Isabel, I know you volunteered, you worked, you raced bikes. I mean, you've had a wide array of experiences that don't have very much to do with Ridgeview. How has that worked out in your life?

00:15:47 Isabel

I think it's been great. I love that I have an outside community that I can turn to as well as my friends at Ridgeview through biking, as you've mentioned. My entire team has been a really big part in the development of myself. I think that spending hours on the trails with my teammates and then climbing with other friends has definitely added to the community that I have found at Ridgeview.

I would say to anyone who thinks that the small community that we do have isn't satisfactory…I think that even in our class of 25 kids, we have one of everyone and that we each have different ideas and it were not all clone copies of them of each other, even though we've gone to school with each other forever.

But I think that's been really interesting and working and volunteering has also been a great way to expand my community and has been a great test of like a work life school balance.

00:16:54 Mr. Anderson

Yeah. Great. Oscar?

00:16:57 Oskar

I would second also that thing that Isabel said about, again, none of us here at Ridgeview or at least in our class of 2026, I would say are remotely close to each other in terms of personality. I think that we have a very wide range of it and it makes for a definitely a fun experience. But if anyone worries about not having the time to interact with the community outside of Ridgeview, I would say that even with the rigorous coursework of Ridgeview, I've still been able to cultivate a relationship that I've had for 11 years with my friend. I've been able to consistently go to the gym for about three years now and I believe that if anyone is worried about not having the time to do things outside of Ridgeview with that, that their worries should be alleviated.

00:17:40 Mr. Anderson

Okay. That's great. So, this raises the question. I think that Ridgeview, particularly if people are coming in, I don't know, probably middle school or later, Ridgeview can seem daunting. What has been the hardest thing about being here?

00:17:57 Isabel

I think managing a balance with school, work, and social life, all the extracurricular activities that one does is definitely very hard. I think that coming into it, you just have to know what you want to prioritize, what you're super passionate about. And even if something's falter, I think any experience that you have in Ridgeview, outside of Ridgeview, will all add to your experience as a whole and your understanding of how you're going to get through it. So, I don't think that it's impossible to manage everything. It's just how you take it and whether you do it in a step by step.

00:18:39 Mr. Anderson

Yeah. I don't think that's a bad answer. I think learning how to manage a lot of different moving parts, particularly when you're as busy and doing as many things as I know that you have. I mean, on the other side of that is that it's a great life scale, right? I mean, it's not something anyone can really teach you how to do. You have to do it in order to understand how to do it later on in life.

What about you? What do you think is the hardest part about being at Ridgeview?

00:19:07 Oskar

Again, I would second that. I think any one who goes to Ridgeview knows that there's always those two or three weeks in the year right before the trimester ends that all your essays are due. You have a bunch of tests. And that could seem really daunting at first, knowing that you have a first, knowing that you have all of these tests and essays do. But I would say that the satisfaction that you get after finishing all those tests, all those essays and being able to just sit and know that you did that. It really is a satisfying feeling. So I would say that even in those rigorous and difficult times, you could still find some solace in them.

00:19:43 Mr. Anderson

I do think, and this is the thing that I've talked a lot about with faculty is, I think you, faculty because they're hyper fixated on a class or, and I don't mean a class like the class of 2026, but a specific section of a class is they get so hyper fixated on, they need to do their thing that they sort of forget about how busy the rest of your lives are.

Years and years ago, I did a sort of experiment, right? Basically, paired teachers up with a student and said, you have to go to every class, you have to go do everything that they do over the course of a day and whatever the homework was for that night, you need to go do that homework. And almost all those people, to include me who I've done as well, came back and it's just, you know, I think that as adults, you forget how bewildering it is to go from, say, AP Chem to social dance to, you know, with these five minute, you know, frantic interludes, it's a lot.

And so I think you guys take on a lot and it's impressive. So we've talked a lot about extracurriculars. Is there any extracurriculars that we haven't mentioned or jobs or internships that you want to talk about?

00:20:52 Isabel

Well, as I've mentioned earlier, I work in volunteer and have been consistently doing so since about freshman year. I work at a small bookstore downtown and then I also volunteer at the Noco Humane Society, which has been very fulfilling. And then for sports, I have been racing cross country all four years of high school as well as racing downhill, which I've been excelling at, thankfully. It's been really fun and I'm hoping to continue that. I'm racing in college, which will be an exciting experience.

So yeah.

00:21:34 Oskar

Yeah, I've participated in a variety of extracurriculars during my years here at Ridgeview. Again, as I mentioned earlier, I've been on the robotics team for about five years where we compete in the first tech challenge. I've also been a part of the stage crew for the theater program for two years. And I've also been a student ambassador for two years and I think that all of those extracurriculars they have contributed a variety of experiences which have really given me the spice of life.

In sophomore year, I also got the opportunity to run a cross country for heritage, which was kind of a curveball in my life, but it was a fun experience, nonetheless.

00:22:15 Mr. Anderson

Good. Let's talk about the senior thesis. Everybody's terrified of the senior thesis, apparently. They remember it all the way from fourth grade. How was that as an experience?

Right? I mean, I think the thing that maybe some parents don't understand who have come to watch the senior thesis is they see the final product, but they don't see all the pieces that went into that. In other words, they don't see the meetings with an advisor. They don't fully comprehend that it starts almost a year before what they see on that stage.

What was that experience like for you? Was it beneficial? And did you take something specific away from it?

00:22:58 Isabel

Well, I think the senior thesis was one of my favorite projects that I've ever done here at Ridgeview. It's such a culmination of everything we've learned and everything we've done, which is something really special. And throughout the project, I loved connecting my ideas to texts that we had read about in class and really just learning how my mind worked, what I was interested in. It was just a great project all and all.

And I think that the most daunting part of it for me at least was presenting the thesis. However, even on the day that I presented, I felt so fulfilled being able to realize that freshman year of me wouldn't have dreamed of standing on a stage and talking for 40 minutes, but it was really fulfilling to see where I'd come and what I was able to do.

00:23:55 Mr. Anderson

That's great to hear.

00:23:58 Oskar

Yeah, I think the senior thesis can be referred to as something in the order of type two fun. I think the senior thesis writing process, I think anyone can agree that with a 7,000-word paper looming over their head, that it definitely becomes overwhelming at times, just knowing that those 7,000 words have to get written at some point. But over the course of the year that I've written, I've been able to experience a lot. For example, my thesis advisor and I for our very first thesis meeting went to go climbing right outside of Rocky Mountain National Park. And it was the first ever time I went multi-pitch climbing, which I'm really grateful for that he took me out to go do that. And I think that with the variety of experiences that I've been able to do through the senior thesis, I think that it's definitely been worthwhile. And just again, during the presentation, the satisfaction that you get after presenting is just surreal.

00:24:50 Mr. Anderson

Well, and to pay you guys another compliment is that I think the thing that I appreciate most and I kind of forget about it and then re-remember it each year is. Once you deliver that thesis up there, there's nobody's thesis, it could have been but yours, right? It feels very authentic. There's no affectation, it's not contrived. And it's always interesting, I think, to see how it is that you've thought about your lives

and adults make the comment to me is they're leaving the PAC after watching you guys do these things. Sometimes they'll say, man, that is unbelievable. I don't know that I even had that thought until I was probably 35. So I think you guys are way ahead of the curve in terms of thinking about how you regard yourselves and then the level of self-understanding that you have and that you then evidence on a stage over the course of 40 minutes or as Oskar put it 7,000 words. So, it is an impressive thing and you guys did an impressive thing.

What do you intend to do next where does life take you from here, Isabel?

00:25:58 Isabel

Well, I am going to Colorado Mesa University and Grand Junction and I'm going to study biology and emergency medicine, which I'm very excited for. And I'm also getting the opportunity to race on their bike team in the disciplines of downhill and dual slalom, which I'm very excited for.

00:26:19 Mr. Anderson

Oskar?

00:26:20 Oskar

Currently, I'm committed to the Colorado School of Minds for mechanical engineering where I hope to pursue that degree. I also might pursue mining engineering depending on how I like the dynamic there.

00:26:34 Mr. Anderson

If there was somebody that was considering whether or not to go to Ridgeview, what would you be your advice to them?

00:26:43 Isabel

I would say that there definitely will be times where you'll wonder if it's all worth it. If the late nights will all cultivate into something that you'll feel fulfilled by, I would say that yes, they definitely will be and that you just have to keep going and remember that it will all be worth it when you're graduating with a class that you've been with for so long and you see everyone that you've seen their senior thesis and you've learned more about each other and then you'll see everyone walk across that stage and just like wonder where all the time went.

00:27:20 Oskar

To anyone who's considering Ridgeview, I would tell them that just the way you think is really changed when you go to Ridgeview.  Coming out of a public school system, I don't think that that trait in me has been cultivated as much as it has been at Ridgeview.  I think just the way, the very dynamics of how I think has been changed at a core level which will definitely influence me positively for the rest of my life. Even though the course rigor might be difficult, I don't think that should be something that someone should be disoaged by.

00:27:55 Mr. Anderson

Okay, well, I really appreciate you both thinking the time to do this. It's been interesting. I learned apparently Oskar’s whole travel history which I had not known before this. And thank you to our listeners, a reminder that it is worth I think if you're considering Ridgeview or considering what the senior experience looks like and that might just be people who are already here. Parents who already have students enrolled is to go back in the, in the annals, I guess, of Ridgeview’s podcast history and listen to other seniors from previous years and hear these guys and think about the things that they've said.

So, thank you both Oskar and Isabel.

And thank you listeners for listening to Hoplite Radio.

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For more information about Ridgeview Classical Schools, please visit our website at Ridgeviewclassical.org

00:28:53

[OUTRO MUSIC]