Elijah ’26 doesn’t have a single place he calls home. Or rather, he has many.

“I was born in Houston (Texas) in 2007,” he said. “I moved to Thailand when I was six months old. I lived in Thailand, Houston, South Korea, and then Kazakhstan, before coming here.”

Like many students at Leysin American School, Elijah grew up moving from country to country as his parents worked in the oil industry. He has embraced his upbringing with unusual clarity. Ask him where he’s from and the answer depends on how much time you have.

“I’ll say I’m American,” he explained. “But if they want specifics, I’ll just give them everything.”

That “everything” is a philosophy. Elijah describes himself as “an amalgamation” pieced together from places, cultures, and experiences that don’t neatly form a single identity. It’s at the heart of being a third culture kid.

“I find it easy to talk with people,” he said. “I can get along with basically anyone.”

In the theater, Elijah is less interested in the spotlight than in what makes it work. “I prefer to be behind the scenes,” he said. “I’ve absorbed the institutional knowledge;” from sound systems to lighting in the Black Box, he has spent years building and running the technical backbone of the school’s productions.

Outside the theater, his interests scatter in every direction and somehow still hold together. He plays hockey, which he discovered while living in Kazakhstan. He studies music in languages he doesn’t speak. He practices padded combat with friends from across Europe. And if the occasion is formal, there’s a good chance he’ll arrive in a kilt.

“I see no reason to hide who I am, because that’s kind of boring,” he said. “I might not be into normal things, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t enjoy my weird little things.”

His sense of self hasn’t always been so settled. When Elijah arrived at LAS in grade 9, he realized he wanted to change.

“I was like, ‘I’m such a jerk,’” he said bluntly. “And I’m like, ‘I could not be a jerk and just be me, and be happy.’”

When he arrived at LAS, he found the space to do that. Through theater, activities, and the Technicolor Fellowship, he also found something he hadn’t experienced before: an open, visible gay community.

“I’m gay, but I didn’t have that kind of community in the countries I’d lived in,” he said. “Coming here, it was nice to finally be introduced to that.”

But what stands out to him now is how unremarkable that introduction felt. “I’ve been treated like a normal person because I am a normal person,” he said. “So that’s nice.”

Elijah’s identity has been shaped by where he’s been, but his future is shaped by what he wants to change.

He speaks with affection and honesty about his upbringing in an oil family, fully aware of the opportunities it has given him and the cost those opportunities carry.

“I’ve profited off of being in that group, which has destroyed a lot of the environment,” he said.

When he talks about the future, his focus sharpens. Elijah is quick to note that his parents, like many others, were “only trying to make a living.” But the impact is real and it has created a sense of responsibility for him.

He plans to study environmental science, with a particular interest in forestry and ecological restoration. He talks about rebuilding ecosystems damaged by oil extraction, restoring prairies, and reintroducing species as part of a larger effort to repair what has been lost.

“I enjoy the idea of doing a net positive thing to the planet,” he said. “Because I like living on this planet.”

Looking back on his time at LAS, Elijah has recognized the freedom to explore, to change, and to become more fully himself.

“Activities have shaped me the most,” he said, listing theater, environmental science, and the people who guided him along the way.

Elijah is many things at once: a technician and a performer, a global citizen, a realist shaped by the oil industry and an idealist determined to repair its damage.