DESPITE THE OCCASIONAL IDENTITY CRISIS, ALEXIS KERMAN

Petite and slender with fine features, the unassuming Alexis Kerman spends most of her free time killing it on the Ultimate Frisbee field.

Having struggled to fit in at school, she has carved out her place at Hillcrest High as captain of the coed team — no ordinary feat in the male-dominated sport — and she’s leading her players to the state competition this month.

Right now, “it’s Frisbee or sleep,” she says. “Without Frisbee, I don’t know how I would have gotten through this year.”

All her life, Alexis has pondered the question, “Where do I belong?” — from her abandonment at a hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, to her shocking 11th grade transition from private to public school.

Alexis weighed just 10 pounds when her parents adopted her at 9 months old the size of a newborn, says her mother, Kay Kerman. The doctor deduced that Alexis probably was born about three months premature. The family lived in Asia for the next few years and had two more biological children.

Growing up, Alexis struggled through the angst typical of adopted children. As a little girl, after minor disagreements with her family, she’d pack a bag, declare, “I’m going back to Vietnam,” and march down the street outside her Preston Hollow home en route to her birth country more than 9,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean.

“I’d make it to the stop sign and realize I wasn’t going to get very far,” she says.

The tension worsened with age. The fascination surrounding the cute baby years faded, and routine moments became awkward. Alexis has to explain her place in her all-white family — from being seated in a restaurant (“Are you with them?”) to registering for high school (“What is your relation?”) to simply hanging out with her brother (“Is that your boyfriend?”).

She knows almost nothing of her biological parents. The adoption center provided a police report with their names and a note that Alexis had been abandoned. She tried searching for them online without success.

“Your parents bring you into this world,” she says, “and they’re supposed to be the ones who love you the most.”

She soon realized that none of that mattered so much.

“I’m here; I’m blessed.”

So blessed that she was able to attend a top-notch private school in Preston Hollow. That is, until she decided she needed a change. Alexis moved from the Cambridge School of Dallas to Hillcrest halfway through high school. She knew it would be different.

“I just wasn’t sure how different,” she says. “I’ve pushed myself so much harder.”

Alexis is in the top 15 percent of her class and found her niche on the Ultimate Frisbee team. Out of the 32 teams competing at state, only five include girls. Hillcrest coach James Wright says Alexis holds her own against the boys on the field.

“She has the right attitude,” Wright says. “She’s very sweet but also has a competitive switch that she can turn on.”

Wright says that after Alexis graduates, the team won’t be the same, particularly in regard to generating interest among girls.

“She acts as a role model to the other girls,” Wright says. “She shows that women can compete in the same realms as men.”

Alexis is taking that mentality to the next level, pursuing a career as a military officer.

A space camp she attended in seventh grade sparked her interest, which shows no signs of burning out. She has finished the rigorous application process for the United States Air Force Academy and the United States Naval Academy —both of which include multiple essays and nominations from her congressman, senators or the vice president.

She says it’s easy to become disillusioned with the idea of serving one’s country, particularly in a place like the United States, where political tensions run high. For Alexis, it’s deeper than that.

“It’s about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That is what is so important for me to protect and fight for. I’ve been given that; I’ve been given everything.”

Even if she doesn’t gain acceptance to one of the academies, she’ll apply again while attending her freshman year of college at Texas A&M University or The Citadel Military College of South Carolina, where she hopes to join ROTC and continue playing Ultimate Frisbee — even though her academic credits likely won’t transfer.

“It’s hard finding a purpose in life, but I feel like I’ve found mine,” she says. “I’m going to get there; I will get there.”

Saturday, May 10th, 10 AM – 6 PM

Tickets at area Whole Foods Markets, Talulah Belle in Lakewood, and online at SAHD.ORG. $20 In Advance, $25 Weekend Of Tour. Kids 12 & Under, Free. For more information and to purchase tickets online, visit SAHD.ORG Brunch tickets $22. For brunch reservations, call 214.826.6075

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