Blame it on the movies.
Yermakov said that in Russia, they watch more American movies and television in translation than Russian-made fare.
“You see scenes of kids getting on the bus and being poked at and picked on by the others,” he said. “But it wasn’t that way at all.”
In fact, he said that when he came to Hamilton High School in the fall of 2008, he was easily accepted by his peers.
Granted, there were some cultural adjustments to make. American schools start much earlier in the morning than Russian schools, he said; and the teachers are more focused on standardized testing, whereas Russian teachers grade by giving oral exams to their students.
But Yermakov, now a senior, not only adjusted, he thrived.
“Leo is the epitome of what a student should be,” said science teacher Bud McCollum. “He takes time not only to just get the work done, but to go beyond the basics of the material to really understand it — and then help other students understand it, too.”
Last summer, Yermakov was one of three Hamilton High students to work on an internship at Miami University’s biology lab, where they got a chance to do hands-on science research, an experience that helped Yermakov focus his college and career goals.
But even more significantly, Yermakov learned earlier this year that he had earned a full, four-year scholarship to Emory University in Atlanta through QuestBridge, a national organization that matches some 260 high-achieving, low-income students with top-ranked universities each year.
Storm brings family to city
If it wasn’t for Hurricane Ike, Leo Yermakov may not have ended up in Hamilton.
Yermakov came to the states with his parents Michael and Elena and younger brother Alexander. They won a green card lottery, which gives them five years to live and work here before applying for citizenship.
“My younger sister lived in Fairfield at the time,” Mrs. Yermakov said. “She came here as an international student about 15 years ago.”
Her sister had long been talking to them about moving to the U.S. in order to make a better future for their children.
“We were more or less OK in Russia,” Mrs. Yermakov said, “but my sister told us that our children would have better futures, better opportunities for development.”
Even though the economy here isn’t great right now, she said that Russia’s economy is always bad and the life expectancy much shorter.
“It is very difficult to survive there,” she said. “The salaries are much lower. Even starting over, we are much better off here than there.”
Her sister had a friend, a Ukranian immigrant, who was able to rent the family an apartment in Alexandria, Ky., but they were only there for a couple of weeks when a windstorm blew through the area, part of the aftermath of Hurricane Ike.
“A tree fell on top of the house and made a large hole in the roof, almost over the computer we have, and so it was impossible to live there,” Mrs. Yermakov said. “My sister lived in Fairfield, so we found a place ... to be near her.”
Mrs. Yermakov said that her son Leo was a good student in Russia, well on his way to earning a gold or silver medal on graduation, in the Lyceum for Humanities, where he thought he might be interested in computer sciences as a career.
“At the Lyceum, there were a couple of bright boys, but Leo thought he was the exception from the rule,” Mrs. Yermakov said. “Students here are so much more involved in their studies, so he was very excited ... to be able to take AP and honors classes.”
Long line of ‘science geeks’
Leo said even though he was more interested in Russian literature and history at the Lyceum, that he comes from a long line of “science geeks,” so it may have been inevitable that his interests veered that direction.
His father is now working in a medical research lab at the University of Cincinnati, his grandfather is a physics professor.
Math and science are the same in Russia as they are in America, Leo said.
“It kind of unites the two cultures,” he said. “The nomenclature in organic chemistry is the same, and that helped me unite my two worlds.”
Hamilton High School science teacher Bud McCollum said that it’s students like Yermakov that keep him going.
“When he comes to ask me a question, I brace myself because I know it’s going to be thoughtful and I don’t know if I’ll know the answer,” he said. “It keeps me on my toes.”
It was an internship at Miami University, however, that helped Yermakov decide to walk the science road, and the QuestBridge Scholarship to Emory University seemed fated, even though it was fifth on his list.
“It’s a great science school and a great medical facility,” Yermakov said. “I’m not sure if I’m going to pursue a career in medicine, but they have opportunities for undergraduate research and I like that.”
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2188 or rjones@coxohio.com.
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