Mountain View High School: Stephane Vogl, shaped by medical crisis, leads with kindess

Freshman year of high school usually comes with a lot of momentum, as students start down the path to senior year and post-grad life. Just as things were getting going for Stephane Vogl, she faced a roadblock when she had a stroke during surgery to remove a brain tumor.

Vogl spent two months at St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Medical Center doing occupational and physical therapy after the stroke paralyzed the left side of her body. Now a graduating senior at Mountain View High School in Rathdrum, she continues with occupational therapy and does her own physical therapy at home.

“It absolutely breaks your heart seeing your kid go through something like that and watching them struggle,” Vogl’s mother Katrina said. “To see that drive, that never quit, we’re so incredibly proud of her.”

After working through therapy, Vogl returned to her first high school, but soon experienced bullying because of her differences. She transferred to Mountain View for sophomore year and found she didn’t have to ask to be accepted; everyone simply welcomed her with open arms.

Vogl said the move to Mountain View saved her education.

“I don’t know where I’d be if it wasn’t for them,” she said. “I’m close with all my teachers, which I never thought possible, being basically best friends with teachers.”

She is close with assistant principal Mark Gorton, and her English and history teacher Travis Burgan, who taught one of her favorite classes where she studied Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart.” She gave Gorton a small plush moose head for his office, a reference to the school’s mascot.

“Students change over the years, but one of the things that’s very consistent about Stephane is her kindness,” Gorton said. “She’s a tremendously kind person. When I watch her in class, in the hallways or her interactions with me, she’s kind. I would be hard-pressed to find anybody that could recall any time where Stephane was disrespectful in any way. She’s a very kind person, so I think that great personality trait is going to do good things for her.”

Vogl finished school half a year early and is going to attend Mountain View’s graduation ceremony in June. Before finishing her senior year, Vogl, like all seniors at Mountain View, had to go through an exit interview with a principal, a teacher and a representative from P1FCU that doubled as a mock job interview.

Vogl’s mother later got a call saying that of all the seniors interviewed, the group was most impressed by Stephane’s responses.

“It was very surprising, because I was nervous the whole time,” Vogl said. “I remember my teacher Mr. Strong had to give me a hug before even going in, because I was so nervous.”

In the fall, Vogl plans to attend the University of Idaho to become a physical therapist.

Before her stroke, Vogl, who plays 11 instruments including clarinet, bass clarinet and bass guitar, thought her career would revolve around music. She played in Mountain View’s concert band and wind symphony and also traveled to Moscow her sophomore year to play with the University of Idaho’s marching band during their homecoming game.

Afterward, Vogl, who taught herself to play her instruments backwards to account for the paralysis, hopes to one day work at the same facility which helped her after her stroke.

Vogl plans to share her own experiences with those she assists, assuring them that she knows exactly what they’re going through and that they can get through such a tough time in their life.

“I feel like having a therapist that can connect with you on that level can help things a million times more,” she said.