The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

A senior at Sisters High School will travel to England this fall to begin his college education.

Devin Robillard, who has compiled a 3.5 grade-point average at SHS, is enrolling at York St. John University in York, England, to study German and business. He'll spend a year at York before moving on to Germany for his second year and back to England to finish his bachelor's degree in the third year.

"I'm excited about the whole college experience," Robillard said during an interview last week.

The university's highly selective German language and business program usually doesn't admit U.S. students because of the need for top skills in reading and writing German. However, Robillard has studied the language since he was an eighth-grader and continues to be tutored by former SHS teacher Isolde Hedemark.

Robillard furthered his German ability for six months last year as an exchange student in Austria.

"Since I went to Austria, they (school officials) thought I would be proficient enough," he said.

Hedemark says her former student has "intuitive language skills" and has developed his ability through hard work. She credited his time in Austria and travel to other European countries for polishing his conversational German.

Hedemark added it's good to see young people from "little old Sisters Oregon" pursue their dreams. Robillard is one of several in that regard, she said.

The son of Tammy and Michael Robillard won't get to choose many of his courses because the York program specifies a rigorous curriculum. He applied to the University of Oregon as a backup plan, and was accepted, but will bypass Eugene for the medieval city where York St. John University is located.

"It's rich in history," Robillard said. "I'm very excited about finishing high school and going. Everything about this school I fell in love with."

That includes relatively small classes at the university with 6,500 students. Robillard envisions a possible business career some day, but said it's too early to pin down his goals. He developed an interest in business by working for a pet-grooming business in Sisters.

Robillard lived with a host family during his stint in Austria. He got along very well with them, he said, but will be living in a dormitory in England. That takes some of the apprehension away because he isn't worried about what a new host family will be like.

SHS teacher Matt Bradley helped Robillard with his application statement for the York university. When he is finished, Robillard will have a bachelor's degree in both German and business.

He graduates from SHS in June, then will fly to England to begin the college program September 6. His father and grandfather will accompany him to York to see him off, and Robillard will return to Sisters during summers. Robillard's parents are supportive of his long trek for post-high-school education.

"They're happy for me because it's what I want to do," he said.

Robillard will give his new environment a tryout with an eye toward possibly living abroad afterward.

"Germany is a strong economic power in the EU," he said. "I could see myself living in Europe."