“I distinctly remember sitting in Mr. Buckner's classroom during my freshman year of high school learning about and taking notes on the different fields of engineering in Introduction to Engineering Design. At this point, I knew I wanted to go into engineering, but I didn't completely know what I wanted to do inside of that broad category. After that lesson, it was so clear to me that civil engineering and architecture would be the field I was going to pursue. Since then, I have competed in architecture related events, have job shadowed with architects and civil engineers, and have committed to attend Villanova University to major in civil engineering." - Andrew Kline, OVHS Class of 2020

“I didn’t end up joining the STEAM program until my junior year of high school. I was unsure of what I wanted to do, but I continually saw my peers creating cool projects that allowed them to think creatively in ways my classes didn’t. Once I started taking classes with Mr. Buckner, I knew that STEAM was something that I was interested in. While I was never in love with the math aspect of engineering, I really enjoyed the creative aspect and how we were challenged to think of new and different ways to accomplish something; even thinking of ways to change things we didn’t like. I distinctly remember going into Engineering Design and Development on the first day of school in my senior year with a list of “I hate it when” statements for class. Mr. Buckner challenged us to team up with one or two other classmates and come up with new ways to fix the problems we addressed in our statements. This gave me the opportunity to think outside the box and come up with ways to potentially change the world. Working with a partner gave us the opportunity to step outside of our comfort zones, my partner thought more technically and I more creatively, which benefited us in the long run. During this time, not only was I trying to figure out solutions to our problem for this project, but I was also applying to colleges and trying to figure out what I actually wanted to major in. I believe that without joining the STEAM program and experiencing the type of competition and passion I did in high school, I never would have found my true passion for architecture." - Autumn Meunier, OVHS Class of 2018