There was a moment this past winter where everything could have unraveled for Asher ’26. She had four unfinished internal assessments. Her deadlines were closing in. A winter break that should have been an escape became a turning point in her senior year. 

With the help of Learning Support Specialist Cristina Capuzzi, Asher created a plan that included pie charts and spreadsheets that plotted a path out of the chaos she found herself in. Task by task, she worked her way out of what she describes as a near “disaster” over her winter break. It is a familiar terrain for her, the push and pull between urgency and execution.

She speaks with an honest and disarming self-awareness. “I’m a difficult person to structure,” she said.

Asher is a Leysin American School graduating senior who is open about having ADHD and dyslexia, which she describes as having differences in how she moves through the world. In her IB Art exhibition, she found a vocabulary through the Japanese concept of Wabi Sabi, the idea that beauty exists in imperfection. Inspired by the Swiss landscape, she created a body of ceramics work that embraces irregularity, asymmetry, and natural cycles, drawing a parallel to her own learning process.

“I wanted to highlight that something doesn’t have to be perfect in order for it to be beautiful,” she said.

At LAS, Asher has become a force for shaping her community, going so far as to create an organization that did not yet exist.

The Jewish Student Affiliation Group started as a single Hanukkah meal. Asher organized the logistics, inviting members of the Swiss Jewish community and bringing in catered kosher food from Geneva. The group is now a sustainable, student-led community that celebrates Jewish culture with members from around the world. They host regular dinners and a large Passover event that brought together students and members of the Lausanne synagogue.

"As long as there are Jewish students at LAS, I hope a group like this will exist," she said.

Asher believes in centering her leadership around democratic principles. She builds community with the participation of other students. The result is groups that foster a strong sense of ownership by their members.

Her instincts drove her to revive the LAS Ski Performance Team. As the freeride and freestyle ski program took off in recent years, the emphasis had shifted away from the race team. Within a single season, Asher grew a competitive team with over a dozen athletes. Under her leadership, the team enjoyed podium finishes and a culture that prioritizes enthusiasm and inclusion. The majority of the team this year were young women, something Asher intentionally cultivated in a sport where women are often underrepresented.

She recalls a grade nine student at the start of the season who was a strong skier, but new to racing and unsure if she belonged, who nearly quit after struggling with skiing gates. By the end of the season, that same student stood on the podium with a third-place finish. The change, according to Asher, was not just improving technical skills, but an internal shift in confidence and belief in herself.

Asher’s advocacy has extended into policy. Drawing from her own experiences navigating different educational expectations across different schools, she has pushed for clearer, more consistent support for students who need learning supports.  “I feel strongly that disabilities are not a hindrance, but rather a difference,” she said.

This perspective appears in the way she structures her own time, the way she confronts procrastination, and the way she asks for support. Teachers like Mr. Porter and Ms. Beighton, along with Ms. Capuzzi, have played a critical role in helping her channel her difference into success, whether through breaking down deadlines or spending weeks refining an art portfolio that would ultimately help her earn an acceptance to a top design school.

Next year, Asher is planning to attend Parsons School of Design in Paris, to pursue fashion and strategic design. It is a fitting next step for someone who has spent her time at LAS not only creating artwork, but creating space, for ideas, for identities, and for people.

Her story mirrors the philosophy she explored in her art. It is not linear. It is not always structured. Sometimes it is messy and unpredictable.

But it is undeniably, and deliberately, her own.