Through the Eyes of Their Children

Alumni Experience LAS All Over Again

LAS was one of the best experiences of my life, as I know it was for many alumni. So when I had kids, I knew I wanted to share the LAS experience with them. This past summer was just the first of many that my kids will spend in Leysin at the LAS Summer in Switzerland program.

My son, Sheldon, called me after just two days in the summer program not because he was homesick, but because he already wanted to extend his time at LAS. He is still in regular contact with many of the friends he met last summer in Leysin and visits them often back home in New York City. At age 13, he’s already beginning to build his own LAS alumni network.

Next summer, both Sheldon and my daughter Ava (11) will be attending LAS Summer in Switzerland. They can’t wait for their next Leysin adventure.

John Sutton ’98, US Advisory Board Chair

The first time I arrived in Leysin was in July 1994 to take a tour of LAS with my father. I was “on loan” to him for the summer, far away from Texas where I lived with my mother. I had never been away from home before, so laying eyes on the unfamiliar buildings and surroundings, I was nervous about the idea of going to boarding school. Our tour began in the Savoy building and while we were wandering through the hallways, Doris Ott suddenly appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, with her arms wide open and called out “Welcome John!” From that moment, I knew I had found my new home.

Four years later, Doris and I hugged again, this time on the graduation stage at the local village church. The time in between was marked by incredible experiences, the formation of lifelong friendships, a healthy dose of soul searching, and the confidencebuilding that formed the foundation of who am today.

Because of my own LAS experience, the decision to send my two children (9 and 11) to Leysin this summer for the 2023 LAS Summer in Switzerland program was not difficult. can’t wait for them to jump out of their comfort zone and experience the magic that few places on earth can offer.

Liz Bernier Saucier ’97 and Chris Saucier ’96

It’s not an overstatement to say that our experience at LAS changed the course of our lives. After all, the two of us met as students at LAS in 1995 and were married seven years later! That’s why when our children, Austin (17) and Taylor (14), came along, we knew that when the time was right, we had to give them the opportunity to share our LAS experience.

We wanted them to not just hear our stories about Leysin, but to have their own experiences and generate their own stories! For us, LAS Summer in Switzerland was the perfect opportunity for them to do just that. The friends they made from around the world and the activities they took part in at SIS have left them positively changed.

When we picked them up, we noticed that even in just the few short weeks that they were in Leysin, the kids’ vocabularies had changed. They were talking about places like Eagle’s Nest and the Savoy, taking the cog, the crazy bus rides down the mountain, hiking in Les Diablerets, and eating spaghetti while sitting on the glacier.

It warmed our hearts to hear them share these stories with us, without us even telling them that we had many of the same memories; it’s WAY better to hear it from them. And perhaps the icing on the cake was that Taylor was assigned to Savoy room 508, the same room where Chris lived his junior year. While the rooming assignment was completely by chance, we like to think that it was meant to be.