Salt water stung his eyes. His hands and feet had gone numb. He clung to the surfboard for dear life as icy waves crashed over his head, but he still wore his signature grin.
Ojai Valley School senior Bohdan Cherkai is always smiling. Since he joined OVS this year, he’s taken advantage of every opportunity that comes his way with enthusiasm. His answer for most questions is “why not?”
He has joined the Robotics team, signed up for every camping trip he can, been mountain biking in torrential rain, and even tried surfing for the first time, despite barely knowing how to swim.
From his cheery appearance, you would never guess the truth of Bohdan’s circumstances.
Bohdan first came to the U.S. from Shostka, Ukraine, in his sophomore year of high school. A friend had mentioned a program called Future Leaders Exchange to him a year earlier and he had thought it would be fun to study abroad.
“As a 15-year old, I was going on an adventure,” he said. “I wanted to have independence and that was my chance.”
He was thrilled to be accepted as one of 200 students from an applicant pool of 10,000. A family in Perham, Minnesota hosted him. Though at first he found it challenging to adapt to a new environment with a different language, culture, and customs, it ended up being a great experience for him.
Then, he received devastating news. On the night of February 23rd, 2022, Bohdan was sitting in bed, about to go to sleep. He scrolled through his phone, checking his messages and emails – and that’s when he saw the headline: “Russia declares war on Ukraine.”
His heart stopped. There had been talk in the weeks prior about the possibility of a war, but the general consensus was that it wouldn’t happen.
“Nobody expected it,” said Bohdan. “I was shocked.”
War had felt like a distant concept to Bohdan. “You don’t really think that war can really affect you. You think… it’s definitely not going to be me.”
And yet, it was.
The first month was the hardest. It took time for Bohdan to process and accept that this was his new reality. Then, he became entirely engrossed in the war, thinking about it constantly, calling his family daily, and checking the news regularly.
His dad was drafted along with all other draft-age eligible men, and there was even speculation that Ukrainians outside of the U.S. like Bohdan could be conscripted if the war continued.
Bohdan also saw reports of missile airstrikes hitting his hometown and destroying buildings.
“It’s a cycle where you get a piece of content and you get angry… and you get more, and you just keep getting angrier and angrier,” he said. “You know you can’t affect [the war.] It’s out of your control, but you keep consuming it. It’s a really dangerous thing.”
Bohdan started to limit his media consumption to protect his mental health, though he admitted it was hard, as the Russo-Ukrainian war has received more online documentation than any other.
But time went on, and so did he. Unable to return home to Shostka, Bohdan signed up for another exchange year and moved to a new school and residence in Pierz, Minnesota.
Sara and Zak Otremba, a young couple who wanted children of their own, hosted him. They quickly became like a second family to Bohdan.
“We’re really, really connected,” he said. “I think it’s like a lifetime bond.”
Sadly, they could not host him for longer than a year, so Bohdan began looking into boarding schools. That’s how he ended up at OVS, which extended him a healthy scholarship that enabled him to attend. He transferred schools for the fourth time in his high school career and almost immediately began to apply for college.
“I had to use my chance of being here, and I decided that the best way to do it would be to get an education in college,” he said. “Questbridge seemed like the best option… financially and opportunity wise.”
Questbridge is a very selective program that provides low-income students, especially those in extraordinary circumstances like Bohdan, a full ride to a college.
OVS college counselor Fred Alvarez, who supported Bohdan throughout the application process, was taken aback by his incredible work ethic.
“I’d come in, in the mornings, and he’d be here working on applications before school; I’d come in on the weekends when I had weekend duty, and he’d be here working on applications,” he recalled. “He worked incredibly hard to accomplish what he wanted.”
On December 1, 2023, Bohdan opened his decision letter and was delighted to be matched with Washington and Lee University, where he will begin attending next fall.
“I was hopeful that he would receive some good news and when he received the good news, I was like, ‘man, no kid deserves it more,’” said Mr. Alvarez.
The Otrembas were equally proud of him.
“He’s made the most of his situation, and he’s just taking every opportunity that comes with it,” said Sara Otremba.
Bohdan stayed with them over the winter break and will again over the summer vacation.
“We expect him to be a part of our lives for a very long time, if not the whole future,” said Sara Otremba.
Apart from their weekly Facetimes, it’s been three years since Bohdan has seen his real family, and there’s no telling when he will again.
Even in this situation, he remains positive. In fact, he says the war has made him more of an optimist than he ever used to be. He recognizes that he still has a lot to be grateful for and that he could have it a lot worse.
“I happened to leave Ukraine to come to the U.S.… three or four months before everything started,” he said. “I could have been there right now – on the front. So, I got it much easier than most others.”
Bohdan is fighting for his country in another way.
“For me the bright future looks like this: gaining my education in the States and then using it to help my own homeland prosper,” he said.
And so, Bohdan continues to smile.