Before coming to La Salle, sophomore Ryder McCoy-Hansen attended the French American International School for middle school. Prior to that, he went to the International School of Portland for elementary school, where he learned how to speak fluent Chinese.

McCoy-Hansen was able to practice Chinese when he traveled to China twice, and he really enjoyed being able to speak the native language in a foreign country. He also found it entertaining to surprise people by speaking Chinese to them when they assumed he could not understand them. 

“The best part is that you can respond and they will go completely insane and be like, ‘woah what just happened?’” McCoy-Hansen recalls after replying to people in Chinese. 

McCoy-Hansen’s favorite place he has ever traveled to is Guilin, China — a city known for its beautiful and dramatic landscape made of limestone karst hills. 

Guilin is a beautiful place in China with breathtaking views. When McCoy-Hansen visited Guilin, “[The hills] were really beautiful, just insane,” he said.

At La Salle, McCoy-Hansen is currently learning Spanish. In addition to the languages he already knows, he also wants to learn more, such as Russian and German.

McCoy-Hansen was drawn to La Salle after his shadow visit. “I had a great time while I was shadowing,” he said. 

His favorite part of La Salle is the community. This year being back at school in person, McCoy-Hansen has been able to make a lot of new friends and build relationships. 

His favorite teacher has been math teacher Mr. Larry Swanson because “he’s just really nice and cares about everyone,” McCoy-Hansen said. “He was also really helpful whenever you had questions. He’d take the time to fully explain and make sure you understood.”

He particularly likes his math and chemistry classes because “they’re challenging and logical,” he said.

At La Salle, McCoy-Hanson is on the cross country, ski, and tennis teams. McCoy-Hansen has been playing tennis for about eight years, and he said it is his favorite sport. In the off-season, he continues to practice and train with his coach. 

McCoy-Hansen has had a successful tennis season this year with his doubles partner, Harris Nguyen. They attended the state competition on Friday, May 20.

McCoy-Hansen had a lot of fun skiing this past season and even went to state which was “very exciting and super fun,” he said. 

He also enjoys getting to ski with other schools including Central Catholic High School and Ida B. Wells High School. “Skiing is just amazing in the first place, but skiing with a bunch of kids from other schools was super fun,” McCoy-Hansen said.

His favorite memory from the season was hanging out with friends. McCoy-Hansen is especially excited for next year’s ski season as it will “be amazing,” he said.

In his free time, McCoy-Hansen likes to read and spend his time outdoors. One activity he particularly enjoys in the winter, other than skiing, is ice climbing. His favorite place to ice climb is Mt. Hood. However, you can catch McCoy-Hansen also spending time outdoors “reading under a tree while it’s raining, right in the middle of a forest,” he said.