Freshman Louis Berdan grew up in Bend, Oregon until he was age six, later moving to Spokane, Washington. It wasn’t until nine years old that he came to Portland, Oregon. 

There, he attended Bridges Middle School, a private institution with a student population of about 60, and while it made the transition to La Salle more difficult, he said, it came with its positives as well.

A factor that brought Berdan to La Salle was the smaller class size in comparison to other high schools, allowing for a smoother transition to the next point in his life, though its course options, academic rigor, and close proximity to home also contributed to his decision.

His favorite class this year so far is Innovation Design Lab, which he’s taking as his elective, taught by Director of STEAM Ms. Carie Coleman, and he enjoys the course’s intersection between art and engineering.

“I just felt like it had a lot of different parts of it, so I wouldn’t have to pick just one thing,” he said. 

He enjoys the class structure and breakdown of the creation process: interviewing, planning, and executing — skills he believes can be applied to many aspects in life. 

When it comes to his day-to-day, Berdan prefers his red schedules for two reasons: they feel more structured, and he gets to learn in German 1, a class he appreciates.

Some activities Berdan enjoys are taekwondo, cross country, and even Rubik’s Cube speed solving — which he participates in competitively, always aiming to improve his score.

Despite the difficulty of the competitions, Berdan typically feels good regarding his performance. 

“I’m not winning them because there’s usually a lot of good people at them, but … I’m usually pretty proud if I get a new record or get higher up in the rankings,” he said.

Another activity Berdan participates in is the Science Olympiad, where his goal is to create an electric car with a partner. 

“You make a vehicle that is powered only by a battery that’s supposed to move a certain distance in a certain amount of time,” he said.

When it comes to entertainment, Berdan said he prefers comedy shows and a variety of music, mentioning that he enjoys “Weird Al” Yankovic among many more artists.

Being an only child has some perks, Berdan said, as it makes him able to have two cats named Reynie and Constance and a dog named Emmett.

In the summer, he enjoys camping with his family and friends. His favorite family tradition is going to Ashland, Oregon on the Fourth of July to visit his mom’s side of the family.

For his next trip, Berdan hopes to visit either Germany or Japan again some day. 

“I really like Germany,” he said. “But I’ve also already been there, so I might go to Japan.”

Since Berdan is only a freshman, he says he doesn’t know what he wants to do in the future, but that he’s interested in computers and possibly software engineering.

“I think I’ve wanted to do something like that for most of my life, something related to coding,” he said.

Later in life, his goals are to get a good higher education. He also is considering taking a gap year and living abroad in Germany.

Correction: March 13, 2026

A previous version of this article misstated the location of freshman Louis Berdan’s Fourth of July trip as Ashland, California, instead of Ashland, Oregon.