By Jeff Miller
Special to The Texas Catholic
The mother of a prospective Ursuline Academy of Dallas student was short of time on campus that work morning, surely not enough to take the full tour that she wanted.
Jessica Bailey, director of the school’s admissions and enrollment management, offered a solution. She summoned one of her most trusted members of the school’s ambassadors program, Lexi Obi, to provide the best experience possible in about 15 minutes.
The mother stayed an hour, skipping her work appointment, reporting back to Bailey: “Oh my gosh! I’m so glad I stayed.” And then asked for Obi’s contact information to follow up with a thank you. (Her daughter did enroll.)
“She just makes an incredible impression on people,” Bailey said.
In her time at the school, the presence of recent graduate Lexi Obi could be found far and wide at Ursuline. The Mesquite resident served as president of both the African-Black Student Union and the Toys for Paws Club. She was an event coordinator for the ambassadors and a board officer for the Global Advisory Council, Hackathon Chair for the Computer Science Club, an officer for the Serviam Fair, and a counselor for the UA+ Summer Camp.
Obi was a member of the National Honor Society and the Mu Alpha Theta Math Honor Society.
And where did she find the time to do all that?
“Working on time management skills,” she said. “It’s built up over time. As a freshman, I wanted to have something to do during our little times and started joining clubs.”
Obi’s three older siblings attended Bishop Lynch, near their home.
“Being in an all-girl environment was really important to her, wanting to be in an environment where girls are empowered,” Bailey said. “As a freshman, she was pretty quiet, maybe a little bit more timid. She has definitely found her confidence, found her voice and her drive.
“Most of our girls are highly motivated and determined, but I would say Lexi is pretty exceptional.”
In the fall, Obi will enroll at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.
“I visited there last summer, felt it really matched Ursuline’s community,” she said.
She plans to major in computer science and government.
“My sophomore year, I took programming I and II. That kind of piqued my interest in computer science,” Obi said. “All my life, I’ve really been interested in technology. I used to code games. Then, I took U.S. government honors. I love reading about presidents, what they’re doing.
“I would love to study both of them and try to figure out the intersection between the two — be a lawyer, an intellectual property lawyer, also an advocate lawyer for tech.”
Obi’s contributions to Ursuline did not end when the Class of 2026 gathered outside the school’s entrance on Sunday, May 24 to sing “Somewhere Only We Know” during the graduation ceremony. She is involved in the school’s summer offerings and doing her last round of tutoring.
A year ago, she was immersed in preparations for the SAT and ACT tests when Bailey suggested, “Go do summer.”
To which Obi replied, “This is summer!”
Cutline for featured image: Lexi Obi, a recent graduate of Ursuline Academy of Dallas, is shown on campus. Obi, a member of the Class of 2026, served in numerous leadership roles at the school, including president of the African-Black Student Union. She will attend Dartmouth College in the fall to study computer science and government. (MICHAEL GRESHAM/The Texas Catholic)
