“I hated the smell of coffee,” Obi recalled. “Now I’m pretty good with it, I drink coffee, too. But when I first came, I hated the smell of coffee. Absolutely hated it.”

Now, three years later, the pungent aroma of brewing coffee isn’t the only thing the Shawnee Mission North senior has gotten used to while living in this country — even the “freaky” weather in Kansas.

Obi is one of hundreds of students in Shawnee Mission and De Soto school districts who have received or will be receiving their high school diplomas this week.

Obi’s graduation ceremony was Tuesday. Students at Shawnee Mission Northwest will graduate Thursday, while students at Mill Valley High School will receive their diplomas Saturday.

On the subject of whether she’s ready to leave high school, Obi laughs, as it’s a moment she’s been waiting for since middle school, she says. But it’s not because of a dislike for school work — Obi has been a high-achieving student who recently was awarded a $1,000 English Language Learner Scholarship through the Shawnee Mission school district.

Right now, she’s mainly thinking about the one activity she’s been missing out on as a busy high school student with several siblings to help get ready for school in the morning: sleeping in.

“I’m going to sleep this summer,” Obi said with a laugh. “That’s it, sleep.”

Obi’s father, Chijioke Obi, was the first of her immediate family to come to America about five years ago. He then secured visas for Chimsom Obi, her mother, Helen Obi, and four siblings to move to the country, as well.

With family and friends spread throughout the United States, Chimsom said, her family could have ended up anywhere. But her parents ultimately chose to move to the state where two of Chimsom’s aunts resided: Kansas. Chimsom says she was not an immediate fan of their choice.

“At first, I was like, ‘Mom, seriously? We could go to other places and you (choose) Kansas?! It’s in the middle of nowhere,'” Chimsom recalled saying at the time.

Still, she said, she’s since grown to “love” this state and plans to attend Kansas University in the fall. It’s from her father, a pharmacist who died last year, that she gets the dream she has held since the age of 5 to pursue a career as a doctor. She said she practically grew up at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital where her father worked and where he would take her with him on weekends so they could spend time together.

“OK, this was the place for me,” Chimsom said of the hospital environment she was drawn to as a youth.

Chimsom said she misses Nigeria, and is torn about where she ultimately might choose to live once she graduates from college. But for now, she’s got enough on her plate to worry about just thinking about life post-high school.

“I have to say, it’s scary. It’s hard to think about and sometimes I just try to avoid it,” Chimsom said last week prior to her graduation ceremony. “But I’m leaving high school. I’m leaving my friends here. I’m leaving my teachers. But I’m just going to dive in … I’m gonna just give it my best.”

One award-winning boat

Also attending KU in the fall is SM Northwest senior Eliot Alpert. And helping to get him there is the 16-foot runabout motorboat he built, with the help of his classmates, over the course of the school year during morning woodshop classes.

For his efforts, Alpert received a Vic Regnier Award at this year’s annual Shawnee Mission school district Research & Development Forum. The highest honor students can receive at the forum, the award includes a $1,500 college scholarship per year.

“I wanted to do something big and bold and one-of-a-kind,” Alpert said, noting that the boat also served as his senior project this year. “This is definitely the biggest project in woodworking history at Northwest or maybe any other school in Shawnee Mission school district.”

Alpert, who has been taking woodshop classes since his sophomore year at Northwest, said he’s always liked “making stuff” — an interest that largely stems from the basement woodshop in his own home in Shawnee.

“It’s more of a hobby, but it’s still something I enjoy,” he said.

A hobby it may feel like to Alpert, but the time and effort he put into making his boat this year suggests otherwise. He said a project of this size would normally take about two years, but he completed most of the boat in eight months, working more than 20 hours each week during the three woodshop classes he has at the beginning of the school day, as well as after school.

The name emblazoned on the side of the boat, “The Pursuit,” seems fitting.

“It’s more of like the journey of building the boat than the result of having the boat when you’re done,” Alpert said.

Alpert plans to major in architecture or engineering at KU.

And after that?

“Not a clue,” he says of future career plans.

But after completing some finishing touches on “The Pursuit,” he knows exactly where he’ll be at some point this summer.

“I feel like the real pride’s going to come out when it’s actually on the water,” he says, “and I get to enjoy the experience.”

A scholar and an athlete

Over the course of his time as a student at Mill Valley High School, Staton Rebeck has been a member of the National Honor Society and has served on the school’s student leadership team.

But along with academics, there’s always been one other aspect of high school that’s taken up a large part of his time and attention.

“Sports has been something I’ve enjoyed and am passionate about since I was young,” Rebeck said.

Since his freshman year, Rebeck has played pretty much every major sport there is, including basketball and baseball. He recently took up track, as well.

Football, though, has always been number one.

“There’s something about it that I guess draws me to the game. I like the offensive side of the ball and I like the team camaraderie part about it,” said Rebeck, who has been a wide receiver for Mill Valley’s Jaguars football team. “Like, a lot of other sports, it’s a small five, six, 11 people on a team. And football, you have 60, 70, 80 kids, and that’s a cool aspect of it.”

A prime example of Rebeck’s talents on the field could be seen in a historic Nov. 2 game against Bishop Miege. The Jaguars lost that game, but Rebeck’s 19 receptions tied the state record for most receptions in a high school football game. And his nine catches in the fourth quarter of the game were the third-most all-time in the nation, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations.

It is Rebeck’s combined efforts both in the classroom and on the field that have garnered him some prestigious scholarships toward the college of his choice: William Jewell College in Liberty, Mo., where he will attend next fall. This year Rebeck earned a scholar-athlete scholarship in the amount of $1,000 from the Greater Kansas City Football Coaches Association. He also received a $500 scholar-athlete award through the Sunflower Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame.

Naturally, Rebeck plans to play football at William Jewell, and would like to pursue a career as a physician or physical therapist. He’s not opposed, however, to the idea of one day playing football professionally.

“It’s a far-fetched (idea), but it would be a great accomplishment I guess,” Rebeck said.

Despite the promising chapter that lies ahead for Rebeck, he calls the end of his time in high school “bittersweet.”

“I’m looking forward towards the new experience,” he said. “I’m excited to start football and a new career there (at William Jewell), but at the same time it will be somewhat sad leaving home and just a great community.”

– Stephen Montemayor contributed to this article.