Jenna McIntosh was one of many students to find a family at OVS.
She started halfway through 7th grade at the Lower Campus and knew from the moment she was warmly welcomed by Tracy Wilson in the admissions office that OVS would support her through the ups and downs of life.
After graduation in 2015, Jenna wanted something permanent to remind her of OVS. The Thomas Fire made her realize that she not just wanted, but needed to do it. Jenna consulted experts and decided on a tattoo of the Topa Topa mountain range with the OVS motto, “Integer Vitae,” in front of it.
“OVS gave me the stability and family that I had always been looking for and never really had,” said Jenna, who proudly displays the OVS tattoo on her right inner biceps. “No matter how long you’ve been gone, it’s always gonna be home for you.”
The effect OVS has on its faculty, students, and alumni is not always visible, but some people chose to display it proudly. As it turns out, there are various alumni who have OVS tattoos to commemorate their life-changing OVS experiences.
“I carry the memories of the teachers and the lessons that they taught me when I was young,” says David Phillips. He sports a tattoo on his upper back with a wreath and the words “Integer Vitae.”
Phillips has lived a difficult life.
Between chemotherapy treatments, abusive situations, and switching schools many times in his youth, Phillips never had a sense of safety until OVS. OVS was a shining light that helped to banish the darkness of his past.
The stability that Phillips had always hoped for became a reality at OVS.
“There was a strong sense among the teachers and dorm parents that they knew what was best for me,” Phillips says, “and they were all right about what I needed to do to become a better student and young man.”
The motto “Integer Vitae” mean a lot to Phillips. While exploring the interpretations and translations of the words, Phillips stumbled across a phrase that reflected the person he had become- “the man of life upright.”
Phillips not only found refuge in OVS, but he found his identity.
Best friends Carson Strassman and Meline Ellwanger from the Class of 2021 share that sentiment. 
Anyone who was at Upper Campus while Carson and Meline were there at least knew them by name. Carson, an aspiring musician with passion, was hardly spotted outside of classes without an instrument of some kind. Meline’s incredible photography and videography skills were always in the spotlight.
However, these two wouldn’t be where they are now without OVS.
While it’s hard for his friends to picture Carson not pursuing musical arts, at one point he wasn’t confident that it would be in his future. OVS gave Carson an opportunity to try new hobbies and perform in a supportive environment.
“It [OVS] pushed me to do my music, and I think that’s what my life is headed for now,” Carson said.
Meline, too, wasn’t always sure that she would become a professional photographer. She says that if it weren’t for the outdoor program and the amazing trips she got to go on, she wouldn’t have realized that she wanted to make a career out of photography. 
Carson and Meline have matching OVS-themed tattoos — dancing Spuds on their ankles — so that they always remember the way that OVS connects to their futures.
On the other hand, Head of Upper Campus Craig Floyd has an OVS tattoo to vanquish the past.
Across the top of his back, Mr. Floyd has inked an 11-by-8 inch, black-and-white tri- angle-shaped tattoo that represents OVS’s recovery and persistence after the Thomas Fire.
The tattoo depicts the Topa Topa mountains that lay behind the Upper Campus. A half-burned oak tree to the left symbolizes what the fire did to the campus; a fully live oak tree to the right illustrates rebirth. Also included is the date the fire ravaged the campus and a phoenix rising underneath the scenery.
That phoenix, as Mr. Floyd put it, is the school rising from the ashes. And the entire piece of artwork reminds him that even through tragedy, OVS is perseverent and will always bounce back.
In a way, it also makes him think about his days at OVS. While Mr. Floyd attended OVS, former Headmaster Carl Cooper was his dorm parent, teacher and coach. Mr. Cooper was a father figure to Mr. Floyd.
The family that banded together to help OVS heal after the fire was just as strong as the family Mr. Floyd had formed years before.
“The school is such an important part of my life,” Mr. Floyd said.