The Ojai Valley School Upper Campus is located in the rural eastern end of the Ojai Valley, 7 miles from downtown Ojai. Thus, day students and faculty take transportation by car to get to school.
Except for one.
On a daily basis, Arno Hunziker gets to school by riding his bicycle, a passion he developed during his childhood.
“Growing up, I did a lot of long bike rides,” Arno said. “It’s something that I was always drawn to.”
His love for bike riding is now something he channels every day when going to school.
Arno’s home resides in Casita Springs, an unincorporated community located between the cities of Ventura and Ojai. He had attended middle school for 7th and 8th grade at Ojai Valley School Lower Campus and is currently a high school freshman at Ojai Valley School Upper Campus.
Arno’s morning routine is tight with little room for deviation; he wakes up at 6:40, eats a quick breakfast, and departs by 7:00 to ensure he arrives at school by 8:10.
In middle school, he biked approximately 7 miles to the Lower Campus daily. Now in high school, he still bikes to the Lower Campus before taking the bus from there to the Upper Campus. But on days when he feels daring, he bikes all 13 miles to Upper.
Either way, it’s all a gruelling uphill battle.
Ojai Valley School Upper Campus faculty member Fred Alvarez was astonished by Arno’s commitment after witnessing his student fighting hard just to get to school.
“In a day and age where I’ve got kids rushing to couches so they can play games and not wanting to get out of their beds because they’re doomscrolling, I look at what Arno does on a daily basis, and I want to stand up and applaud,” Fred Alvarez said. “I don’t know Arno very well. I’m just getting to know him. But I have a lot of respect for that kid.”
While Arno’s unwavering willingness to bike daily is undoubtedly commendable, it raises a simple question: Why? Why choose to bike every day when there are accessible and less taxing methods of transportation? No one is watching this. No one is demanding this.
Arno provided an equally simple yet powerful answer:
“I choose to bike and exercise just for fun,” Arno said.“Yeah, the uphill can be challenging. But, at least for me, it’s not too hard when it’s also something you enjoy.”