Vladyslav Holubovskyi spent his senior year (2022) at Oak Hills High School as an exchange student from Ukraine and recently returned to visit. While here, Holubovskyi spoke to the Tartan staff about his experiences at Oak Hills and his life abroad. 

     Holubovskyi graduated in 2022, after coming to Oak Hills in 2021. The program that he was a part of to be an exchange student wasn’t specifically for Oak Hills or Cincinnati, instead his profile was sent to families in America and they decided where he would best fit. He was unable to return to Ukraine after his time here because of the conflict that erupted in 2021, and told the Tartan staff that he has yet to return.

     During his time here, Holubovskyi participated in the Drama Club and was also a member of the Boy Tennis Team. He played some smaller roles in the Oak Hills play “Little Women,” as well as the musical “Mamma Mia!” Back home, extracurricular activities aren’t common in schools, so Holubovskyi was glad to participate in them while at Oak Hills. He stated that his favorite classes were history courses like Government and Journalism because they allowed him to see the difference between American culture and Ukrainian. That cultural difference was one of the reasons Holubovskyi wanted to visit America, as opposed to the popular reason of wanting to improve one’s English. 

     Now, Holubovskyi lives in Switzerland and studies hospitality where he claims that Americans always want ice in their drinks. He enjoyed his time here and is doing well. His visit allowed him to reconnect with old friends and teachers and he had the opportunity to speak to many current students at OHHS, not just the Tartan staff. His desire to return shows the deep connections that Oak Hills allowed him to create and his visit left a lasting impression on all of Oak Hills.